Transformers Prime: Iron Man
by KnightRider96
Summary: We all have secrets, the ones we keep and the ones that are kept from us. Jack has a secret. But what is it? Read to find out. takes place before Darkness Rising
1. Darkness Rising Part I & II

**Hey everyone and welcome to my story!**

 **This takes place just before Transformers Prime Darkness Rising. it has many elements of Iron Man and certain others, without going into full crossover. well i hope you guys enjoy this.**

* * *

Transformers Prime: Iron Man

We all have secrets. The ones we keep, and the ones that are kept from us.

It was another day in the small town of Jasper, Nevada. But for one young man it was just the end of his shift at work and then it would be back to school the next day. This young man was Jackson Darby, a sixteen year old teenager who lived with his mother June Darby.

Jack grew up in the small town of Jasper all his life. Raised by his mother and his father, Aaron Darby, Jack grew up to be a responsible, intelligent young man. He seemed to be a natural when it came to technology. Particularly about mechanics and physics. He was extremely smart for knowing how to work with chemicals and other sciences that left most university students baffled.

Jack always looked up to his father, who was a mechanic at one the auto repair shops. He learned all about how vehicles worked, from the inside out, from his father. However tragedy struck when he and his father was kidnapped by a terrorist organization when he was thirteen. They had wanted his father to build them weapons with some type of energy, but he refused until they threated Jack with his life. Complying quickly, Aaron, his son and a kidnaped scientist by the name of Yinsen, started to build them the weapons while on the side build a suit of armour in secret, fitting it with as many weapons as they could.

However they were working to slow, and were told that they were to speed things along, by trying to kill Jack, however his father pushed him out of the way and was killed instead. Telling him that he was now in charge of finishing up, Jack and Yinsen quickly finished building the armour and weapons that they asked for. Planning their escape, Jack was to take the suit and fight his way out with Yinsen. However things did not go as planned as when Yinsen died trying to give Jack more time to ready up. Knowing that he could not die and let their plans fall into ruin, Jack made quick work of all of the soldiers and destroyed many of the weapons they built, taking some of them for himself as well as the work on the strange energy and left.

It would be another month before he would return to Jasper, to his home and to his distraught mother, who after being told of what had happened, lying about how he escaped and what had happened to his father. After returning home and answering numerous questions by the police, Jack had went to an abandoned warehouse, where he kept all the weapons he had stolen as well as the suit of armour he had used to escape. Using whatever he could find from the junkyard and paying for certain items from the many shops around Jasper from his pay check, Jack had created a workshop for himself. After he had set everything up, Jack had created his own A.I called J.A.R.V.I.S or Just A Rather Very Intelligent System, and started to build more suits, just in case he ever came across the organization again. It would take him a year before he was able to understand and replicate the energy power and use it to power his suits.

* * *

Working for KO Burger was not the best job there was in town but it was one that would hire him, to help his mother pay for the bills. After his father had died, it was just him and his mom, sadly she had to work longer hours at the hospital to help pay for their expenses.

"No mom, I won't be going to the prom this year." Jack stated to his mother, as he left work. Spotting something in the corner of his eyes, Jack turned his head to see a blue with pink highlights motorcycle.

"I love you mom." Jack said before hanging up his phone and heading towards the motorcycle. Standing in front of said motorcycle, Jack ran his hands across the leather seat of the bike, and then took a seat. "One day I'm going to ride something like you." Jack muttered to himself.

"Uh…are you talking to you bike?" a voice asked. Turning his head, Jack found himself looking at Sierra and one of her friends.

"What? Oh no I wasn't, just admiring her." Jack answered.

"It's Jack, right?" Sierra asked, to which she got a nod from him.

The area around them suddenly turned bright, as if someone had a spotlight on them, turning around, Jack saw two purple cars with their high beams on. The motorcycle then seemed to come to life all on its own and drive off, taking along for the ride and the two cars chasing.

"Hang on kid." A voice shouted out. Jack was completely bewildered by the fact that he heard a voice.

"Who said that!?" he cried out.

The motorcycle kept on speeding forward, with the two cars trying to bump them off the road. Turning into an alleyway, the motorcycle stopped and Jack got off it, backing away slowly.

"I don't exist kid. Tell anyone about me and I will hunt you down." It said in a very distinctive female voice, now that he could properly hear her. Turning around and sprinting away from the motorcycle, Jack ran through the alley hoping to get home and forget about this whole mess.

Hearing the roar of an engine, Jack turned his head to see one of the purple cars from before coming after him.

"I don't even know her!" he shouted at the car. Just as he thought that he was going to get run over, the motorcycle from before swerved next to him. Thinking quickly, Jack hopped onto the seat and sped off out of the alley and onto the main road.

Turning right towards the main highway and an empty straight, the 2 cars suddenly had 2 large guns atop their hoods, and started firing red bolts of lasers.

" _They have lasers now! Well that's just wonderful."_ Jack thought

The motorcycle continued to drive until they hit the highway where a yellow and black stripped custom Urbana, started to block their way, swerving left and right every time they tried to get by him.

"Friend of yours?" Jack asked.

"Family." the motorcycle replied.

Speeding forward, it did not take long for the two purple cars to catch up with them, the muscle car behind them. The motorcycle suddenly jerked to the right, right off the highway and downhill until they were under the highway. Catching his breath from the car chase, Jack got off the motorcycle and noticed a young Hispanic boy with spiky brown hair, wearing glasses on his face with a yellow sweater and black pants. Jack knew him as Rafael Esquivel, a boy of twelve years who managed to skip a few grades due to his smarts. They normally help each other, Raf helping Jack with homework, and Jack saving Raf when he's getting bullied by Vince.

"Woah!" Raf said.

"You have no idea Raf." Jack replied smiling at him and made his way over.

Suddenly the two cars from earlier came down the hill and landed in front of them, the two cars then transformed into giant towering robots, leaving the two boys astonished. Hearing a sound near them, the two boys turned to see the motorcycle transform into a giant robot as well, except the difference was that it looked more female than the other two.

"It ends here 'cons." She said.

After saying that, she started to run at them dodging and weaving in between the laser fire coming from the two others. Reaching the closest 'con, she jump kicked it, then turned and proceeded to punch and kick the other 'con.

"Wh-What are they?" Raf asked.

"Talking vehicles that turn into giant robot or the other way around." Jack answered.

The female robot suddenly flew back, landing hard on her back. As the two 'cons made their way to her the Urbana from earlier drove off the road and transformed, landing on top of one of 'cons and punched the other so hard it flew backwards. Getting off from the 'con, the robot didn't see the small remote toy car that Raf was playing earlier until it heard of something crunching under it. Lifting its foot, it saw the crushed toy car and turned to look at the two boys, its optics displaying worry and seeming apologetic.

"It's fine really." Raf assured smiling at it.

Before it could say anything, the robot was shot backwards by one of the 'cons. Helping the other 'con up, the two advanced on the prone robot as they prepared to fire upon it, Raf ran forwards a little and shouted.

"Leave him alone!"

This however turnout out to be a bad thing as the two 'cons turned to the two humans.

"Please" Raf gulped out.

"Bad idea, come on." Jack said as he took hold of Raf's arm and proceeded to run to one of the many open pipes.

As they ran, they noticed that one of the two 'cons had decided to chase after them. Getting inside the pipe, they ran as quickly as they could, as the 'con who had been chasing after them tried to grab hold of Jack, it was suddenly pulled back and thrown. Turning around the two boys saw that the robot Raf had saved earlier, looked at them to make sure they were unharmed.

"Thank you." Raf said, and proceeded to follow Jack deeper into the pipes.

The next day after school had ended, Jack was making his way down the stairs, when he saw Raf standing under a tree waving at him to come over.

"Look Raf, I think we should just forget about everything that happened yesterday." No sooner had had Jack said that, when suddenly the same yellow muscle car from yesterday pulled up in front of them "Oh no, not again."

The car simply opened its door beeping at them, indicating that it wanted them to come inside.

"It wants us to go inside?" Jack questioned.

"No, just me." Raf stated back, seemingly able to understand him.

"How do you know that?" Jack questioned.

"It said so." Raf replied.

"What!?" Jack exclaimed.

"Yours is over there." Raf said, drawing Jack's attention to the same motorcycle he rode on yesterday.

"Look, I really don't think that…."

"How's it going?"

"Raf?" Jack turned back, only to see the young boy climb into the yellow Urbana. "Hey, Wait! Stop" he called out, as the car drove off.

Watching them speed off, Jack turned his head to look at the motorcycle again before walking off, not noticing that it started to follow him. Walking down one of the nearby alleys, Jack heard the sound of tires screeching before the same blue motorcycle came to a stop in front of him.

"Relax, I just want to talk to you." She said.

"Don't you mean you and your new friend?" Jack said, indicating to the driver.

"Kid, there's a lot you don't understand." As she said this, the driver turned out to be a hologram when she fizzed out.

"No, I-I get it. I get it." Jack said back away, with motorcycle moving forward with every step Jack took back. "The first rule of robot fight club is you don't talk about robot fight club. What _you_ need to understand is that I don't want a bunch of crazy talking vehicles following me around, trying to get me killed."

Hearing the sound of shifting metal, jack turned to see the motorcycle's robot form. "Look. Jack is it? Your personal is exactly why Optimus Prime has requested your presence." She said.

"O-Optimus who?" Jack asked as the female robot leaned in closer.

"You may be in danger because you are one of the few, one of the _only_ who have ever seen us."

"Dude! What are you waiting for?!" Turning to the sound of the voice, Jack saw it was a girl with amber coloured eyes, black with pink highlights on her hair, he recognized her as the Japanese exchange student, Miko Nakadai. "Go with!"

"Scrap." Was all Jack heard the motorcycle say.

* * *

"WHOOO-HOOOO! WHOOO!" Miko screamed as they were driving through the desert.

"And why exactly are we taking her?" Jack asked

"Rules." She answered back.

Seeing a fork in the road Jack expected the Urbana to make a turn, only for the muscle car to just head for the large mesa in front of them, thinking that they were going to crash into the rocks, Jack did not expect to see the rocks move aside, to reveal that it was large door that lead into a tunnel. Driving through said tunnel Jack, Miko and Raf were treated an amazing sight of two more giant robots. One of them was mostly coloured red with white highlights, with a scowl on its face standing nearby some computers while the other was large and green. Getting out of the car/motorcycle, the kids continued to be in awe at the titans before them as the other two transformed back into their robot form.

"I thought there were only two?" the red and white questioned.

'Haven't you heard? Humans multiply." The female robot said walking off.

"I'm Raf." Raf introduced himself to Miko, only for said girl to completely ignore him.

"I'm Miko, Who are you." She asked moving in front of the large green robot.

"Bulkhead." It answered back.

"Are you a car? I bet you're a truck, a monster truck." Miko said as she continued to question the robot, despite its obvious increase in discomfort. "Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weight? Ever use a wrecking ball as a punching bag?"

"So if you guys ae robots, who made you?" Raf asked.

"Please." The red and white scoffed.

Feeling the ground shake and loud footsteps heard, Jack, Raf and Miko turned to see a very large red and blue robot come forward towards them. Standing before them, the robot looked down.

"My name is Optimus Prime. We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron, also known as Autobots." Optimus said in a baritone voice.

"My Second in Command, designation Arcee." Optimus introduced to the female motorcycle.

"Our medical officer Ratchet." Indicating to the red and white 'bot.

"Our Wrecker Bulkhead." Indicating to the large green 'bot, who simply waved at them.

"Our scout Bumblebee." Finally indicating to the yellow and black 'bot.

"Why are you here?" Jack asked.

"To protect your planet from the Decepticons." Optimus answered.

"The jokers who tried to bump us off last night." Arcee elaborated.

"Ok well, why are they here?" Jack asked.

"A fair question Jack, in part they are her because our planet is uninhabitable ravaged by centuries of civil war." Optimus explained kneeling down.

"Why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked.

"Foremost, over control of our world's supply of Energon, the fuel and life blood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike." Optimus answered back.

Reaching to the side of his dead Optimus' optics seemed to glow before there was a beam of blue light that surrounded them. The ground started to crumble away, large buildings were erected around them, Autobots and Decepticons were fighting each other with blaster fire and flashes of light going off. "Our planet was once a powerful empire, peaceful and just. Until we were betrayed by Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. The combat was fierce, and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one who I considered a brother." Optimus explained as more and more Autobots and Decepticons continued to fire at each other. "But in war, ideals can be corrupted, and it was thus that Megatron lost his way." It finally ended with a large grey Decepticon, with red optics and sharp teeth and a giant purple cannon on his right arm leading the charge.

"Is there going to be a quiz?" Miko yawned out causing Jack to glare at Miko for her rudeness, before turning back to Optimus.

"Ok well, what has Megatron or any of this have to do with us?"

"Megatron has not been seen nor heard from in some time. But if his return is imminent as I fear, it could be catastrophic." Optimus replied narrowing his optics a little. "And since you now know of our existence, I fear that as of last night the Decepticons know of yours."

"Got it. If we spot any strange vehicles, call 911. Can we go now?" Jack asked.

"Are you insane?" Miko asked "I'm living a dream here in bot-swana, and I will not allow you or anyone else to shatter it!" Miko stated.

"It is best that you three remain under our watch at least until we can determine our enemies' intention." Optimus said. At this Ratchet turned to look at Optimus.

"Optimus, with all due respect, the human children are in as much danger here as they are anywhere."

"Children?" Jack questioned.

"They have no protective shell. If they get underfoot they will go squish." Ratchet stated this with him putting his foot down, hard.

"Putting his hands on his hips, Optimus simply smiled at his medial officer. "Then for the time being Ratchet, we must watch where we step."

There was a sudden loud blaring sound, much like an alarm going off with the screens flashing bright green.

"What's that?" Jack questioned.

His answer came in the form of beeps and buzzing from Bumblebee. Not understanding what he said, Jack and Miko stared and him.

"Proximity sensor. Someone's up top." Raf translated pointing above them.

"It's Agent Fowler." Ratched said.

"I thought we were the only humans who knew about you guys?" Jack asked.

Optimus turned to look at Jack and answered. "Special Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world. As he tends to visit only when there are issues. It may be best if you do not meet him at this time."

Looking at each other, Jack, Raf and Miko made their way behind the staircases. They did not have to wait long for Agent Fowler to come out of the elevator. He was a large African American man with short hair wearing a grey suit, white undershirt and black and white striped tie.

"Seven wrecks, thirty-four fender benders, a three hour traffic jam, and of particular note, numerous reports of a speeding motorcycle of unknown make and black and yellow custom muscle car." Agent Fowler said walking forward towards the railing. "So anything you care to get off your tin chest, Prime?"

"We have the situation under control, Agent Fowler." Optimus answered.

"They're back, aren't they?" Fowler asked, with a hard look in his eyes.

"If you are referring to the Decepticons, I have doubts that they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable." Optimus stated.

"Then it's time to wake up the Pentagon." Fowler replied.

Hoping to deter him from his choice, Optimus spoke up. "Hear me Agent Fowler. We are your best, possibly your only defense against the Decepticon threat."

"Says _you_." Fowler challenged.

"Hey fleshy, did anyone get splattered on that freeway? Team Prime know when to use _force_ , and how _much_ to use." Bulkhead retorted back, tearing off a claw like device and crushed it.

"BULKHEAD I NEEDED THAT!" Ratchet cried out.

"ENOUGH!" Optimus boomed "Military involvement will only result in catastrophe. Perhaps _you_ can condone widespread human casualties Agent Fowler, I however, cannot."

"Then do us both a favour and handle this Prime, under the radar." Agent Fowler stated as he moved back into the elevator. "Or _I_ will."

Watching the elevator doors closed, Bulkhead walked forward. "Pretty big bearing…..For a human."

"Agent Fowler is concerned for his world Bulkhead, as he should be." Optimus said.

"Blasted earth tech!" Ratchet cried out turning to the others. "Cliffjumper's signal just popped back online."

"Who's Cliffjumper?" Miko asked as they came upstairs.

"How is that possible?" Optimus asked, ignoring Miko's question.

"It isn't." Ratchet stated "Another bug. The systems chock full of them."

"If there's any chance Cliff's alive…" Arcee said, leaving the statement hanging.

Nodding his head Optimus turned to look at Ratchet. "Ratchet prepare sick bay. We may need it." He said activating his battle mask.

"Hey! What can we do?" Miko asked.

"Remain with Ratchet." Was all Optimus said before walking off.

"Aww." Miko whined.

"Ughhh." Ratchet grumbled before pulling a leaver.

The sound of whirling was suddenly heard as blue rings lit up before a vortex of swirling green and blue colours was open.

"Autobots, Roll Out!" Optimus cried out, transforming into his vehicle form, which was a semi. Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead turned into their vehicle forms as well that of a motorcycle, an Urbana and an armoured truck, before they all disappeared.

"What just happened?" Jack asked as he and the others, bar Ratchet, were astonished.

"I transported them to the designated coordinates via the Ground Bridge." Ratchet answered.

"What's a Ground Bridge?" Raf asked.

Sighing Ratchet decided to answer their questions, if only to have some piece of mind. "A scaled down version of Space Bridge technology. Since we don't currently possess the means or the Energon required for intergalactic travel…"

"You're stuck here…on Earth." Jack stated.

"With the likes of you, yes" Ratchet stated coldly, narrowing his optics at them. "But I constructed the Ground Bridge to enable travel from here to anywhere on your planet."

"Whoa." Raf said, amazed at the level of technology. "Does it work on humans?"

"Naturally." Ratchet replied.

"You mean I could just shoot on over and visit my parents in Tokyo?" Miko asked.

"Within moments. In fact, allow me to you there immediately, all three of you." Ratchet said.

"Watch it Ratchet." Miko replied, hands on her hips with a smug smile on her face.

Moving downstairs to the ground, Jack and Miko decided to look around until Miko found a device filled with buttons and switches. Just as she was about to touch a button with her finger, the sound of Ratchets voice stopped her.

"Broken, don't touch. Don't touch that either." Ratchet said without even looking behind him just as she was about to touch another button.

"Is there anything in here that we _can_ touch?" Jack questioned.

Ratchet didn't answer as there was a sudden influx of error messages that popped up on screen. Grumbling Ratchet started to try and fix the problem.

"Why are you guys using human technology?" Raf asked

"It certainly isn't by choice. It was handed down by the previous tenants, when we inherited this former missile silo. I make modifications as I see fit." Ratchet stated.

"I think I can fix that." Raf said taking out his laptop and plugging it into the USB port and started typing away.

"Really? You do know that this is complex technology don't you?" Ratchet mocked. "I mean it isn't a child's toy.

"Now try." Raf spoke up suddenly.

Turning to the screen Ratchet did not expect all the error messages to suddenly disappear, leaving the medical officer speechless.

"Ratchet! Bridge us back. Use the arrival coordinates now!" Optimus commanded out over the speakers

As the Ground Bridge opened, it didn't take long for Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead to appear with Optimus behind them. Closing the Ground Bridge quickly, Ratchet came over to the others and started to question them.

"Cutting it a bit close. How about Cliffjumper?" Ratchet asked, only for them to bow their heads down.

"What was that explosion? Was there a fight? Can I come along next time?" Miko fired off, only to see Arcee growl at her.

"Look-." She growled out.

"He, hey Miko, let's go see what the 'bots are hiding in their sock drawers." Jack said, hoping to deter Miko from angering Arcee anymore.

"Searously."

"Arcee, what did you see?" Optimus asked.

"Not Cliff, at least not anymore. He was mutated, butchered, like something from those 'con experiments during the war." Arcee explained before she fell grabbing a nearby crate to steady herself. Seeing this, Bumblebee, being the closest stepped forward to help, only for Arcee to wave him off. "I'm fine. Just dizzy."

"Robots who get dizzy?" Miko asked quietly.

"Robots with emotions." Raf said.

"Robots who could die." Jack finalised.

Scanning Arcee, Ratchet found a substance of purple goo on her hand. Scrapping it from her Ratchet asked. "What is this?"

"Don't know. Cliff was covered in it. Leaking it." Arcee answered.

"Go take a decontamination bath. Now." Ratchet ordered as Bumblebee led her away.

"Optimus. I hate to bug, but to bars." Jack said showing his phone.

"A security precaution. The silo walls isolate all radio waves." Optimus answered back.

"Well if I don't call my mom, like right now. I'm pretty sure the cops will come looking for me." Jack stated.

"Have you broken a law?" Optimus asked leaning in closer.

"Uh curfew, it's after ten pm." Jack answered back.

"I better get home too, or I'll be grounded for a year." Raf agreed.

"Earth customs, I hadn't considered. But the issue of your safety remains." Optimus stated. "Bulkhead, accompany Miko home."

"Awesome! My host parents will freak." Miko said excitedly.

"And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form." Optimus finished.

"Curb side duty. Got it." Bulkhead said nodding, which got Miko whining.

"Bumblebee, you'll watch over Raf." Optimus ordered.

"Ratchet-." Optimus started only to be cut off.

"Busy."

"Arcee, you'll accompany Jack." He finished off.

"Still dizzy." Arcee said, trying to weasel out of the way.

"Your fine, says your physician." Ratchet stated back not looking away from his microscope.

Sighing, Arcee made her way to Jack and transformed, waiting for him to get on.

* * *

Driving into the garage, Jack got off Arcee and tried to speak to her. Feeling sorry for her loss of her partner and friend. "Arcee, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for your loss."

"What could _you_ possibly know about loss?" Arcee asked coldly.

Angered, it took all of Jack's control not to lash out. Instead he took a breath and answered back. "What you think you're the only one with problems?"

Transforming, Arcee narrowed her optics at Jack and shot back. "I'm not sure girl trouble counts."

"I'm pretty sure my girl troubles started the night I met you." Jack retorted.

Seeing a white car pulling in Jack quickly realised that it was his mom. Arcee, who thought that it was 'cons readied her blasters, only for Jack to tell her it was his mom. Seeing his mom get out of the car, Jack ran to her, hoping that he could explain the situation that he was in. "Hey mom, listen I can explain."

Walking past her son, June Darby stood next to Arcee in her vehicle form. "Can you?" she asked. "Jackson Darby, we've talked about this."

"I know -." Was all Jack could say before being cut off.

"You don't know. I worry about you enough when you're not at home. But now I have to worry about you driving a motorcycle!" his mom said cutting him off, clearly worried.

"I'm sixteen mom. I can't be riding a ten speed forever." Jack argued back.

"How did you even afford this?" his mom questioned.

"It's used, abused really. It needs a ton of repairs. But the point is, I may have been a kid when I bought this." Indicating Arcee. "But I'm not anymore. You taught me to always make responsible choices. Well I chose her, and I'll be responsible, I promise."

"Her?" his mom asked. "I didn't think you were bringing girls home already Jack?" his mom teased.

"I'd like to think she chose me." Jack answered abashed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well at least you have a reason to wear your helmet, _every single time you drive_." His mom emphasised. "You will take me on a spin, every once in a while, won't you?" she asked.

"We'll see, she can be a bit temperamental." Jack answered as he shut the lights off and closed the garage door.

* * *

 **And it is over. The first chapter of this story is up and we still have a long way to go. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you have any thoughts on this please let me know in your review, it would help me know what i should do to improve upon this. and if you haven't seen my other story check my profile to see it.**

 **With that being said have an awesome day everyone.**


	2. Darkness Rising Part III

**Another day, another chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 2

The sound of engines roaring had woken him up. Getting up quickly, Jack ran down the stair and opened the door that led to the garage to see Arcee revving her engines to get his attention.

"Shh! Are you crazy?" Jack asked. "You'll wake the whole neighbourhood with the way your revving your engines like that!"

"Grab your helmet. It's go time." Arcee replied.

Sighing Jack hung his head. "It's Saturday."

"You can watch cartoons back at base with Bumblebee." Was her reply

"Cartoons. I'm sixteen." Jack muttered closing the door to shower and change.

Fifteen minutes later, after Jack had showered and changed in some fresh clothes, picked up a red metallic suitcase and got on Arcee, where they drove off towards the Autobot Base. While driving Jack thought back to the conversation he had last night J.A.R.V.I.S and the plans that he had working.

 _Flashback_

" _Sir, these Cybertronions seem to be made out of an unknown element of metal and use a power source similar to what you use to power the Iron Man suit." J.A.R.V.I.S explained._

" _Right well, I'll run some test with the metal soon as soon as I can get some. In the meantime, see if you can figure a way that we can use their own firepower against them." Jack replied._

" _Very good sir. Might I also remind you that your science project is due by next week?" J.A.R.V.I.S asked._

" _Noted J.A.R.V.I.S." Jack replied, shutting the comm-link off and returned to his blueprints._

 _After meeting the Autobots that day and realizing that his weapons would be ineffective against them. Jack quickly had J.A.R.V.I.S run through the data that he had collected earlier as well as run a background check on Agent Fowler and everything that he could get his hands on information on the Autobots. Once back home, he quickly said goodnight to his mom and went to his room to start work on his new Iron Man suit. Knowing that the technology that the Autobots used could not be replicated without a basis to work on, he decided that he would settle that for tomorrow._

" _Sir, all data about Agent Fowler has been collected. Unfortunately any information on the Autobots are unknown." J.A.R.V.I.S said._

 _Nodding his head,Jack quickly replied. "Search the Internet for clues about the Autobots, conspiracies, leaked images, anything that could be useful."_

" _Very well sir." J.A.R.V.I.S replied._

 _Deciding that he worked enough, Jack packed all his work in his drawers and went to bed._

 _Flashback_

"Hold on tight Jack." Arcee's voice sounded out, breaking Jack out of his thoughts. Before he could say anything, Arcee sped forward.

Grabbing the handles quickly, Jack held on as he watched the Nevada desert pass by. "Woah Arcee, what's gotten into you?"

"thought you might enjoy the ride with no one shooting at us." Arcee replied, amusement clearly showing in her voice.

"Bring it." Jack said, challenging Arcee.

Quickly, Arcee once again sped off, clearly going at nearly 120 miles per hour. Jack loved the feeling of the wind whipping past him. Hearing loud honking, Jack turned his head to notice Bulkhead speeding towards them, Miko clearly enjoying herself. Once they had neared each other, they came to a stop. Getting of Arcee, Jack approached Miko, who had exited Bulkhead, to speak to her.

"Hey Jack, what's with the suitcase?" Miko asked noticing the suitcase Jack carried with him.

"Important, don't touch." Jack replied, using the words Ratched had used on her yesterday.

"So how did your host parents react to Bulkhead?" Jack asked.

"They didn't." Miko replied, before continuing seeing that Jack had raised his eyebrow, clearly not believing her. "Ok, they said that so long that as I was safe and that the person was trustworthy, that I could ride with him, as long as they get to meet him."

"What do you mean when you said 'that the person was trustworthy'?" Jack asked quickly, hoping that the girl wasn't crazy enough to try and have Bulkhead transform.

At this Miko seem to have become nervous and started to look at the round and play around with her feet. Raising his eyebrows yet again, Jack looked at Miko more closely and noticed that whenever she looked up to speak, she would quickly either turn her head and avoid eye contact or just hang her head.

"Miko." Jack spoke up putting his hands on her shoulders. "What did you tell your host parents?"

"I might have told them that that trustworthy person was you, and that you were my boyfriend." Miko answered, still looking down.

In shock, Jack had released Miko's shoulders and stepped back a little. He did not know what to think. While he would admit that Miko was certainly attractive in a spunky rebellious type of way, he certainly didn't think that they would ever be involved with each other in any way. Before he could say anything about her decision, they heard someone honking and saw Bumblebee and Raf drive towards them.

"We'll talk about this later." Jack said.

Walking towards Raf, he though more about what Miko had said, about him being her boyfriend. Despite her saying, Jack could not still believe it. While yes, they would only be in a pretend relationship, it would still mean him going to meet her host parents, pick her up on a date and other such stuff that couple's do when they're in a relationship. Yet he could not seem to get the feeling that that was what she wanted. Clearing his head for a moment and bringing it back to the present, he looked down and greeted Raf.

"Morning Raf."

"Morning Jack, what's with the suitcase?" Raf asked the same question Miko had asked earlier.

"Just some important stuff, nothing to worry about." He replied. "So how did your parents react to you and Bumblebee?"

"They were fine with him, since he's just dropping me off at school." Raf replied.

Nodding his head, Jack decided it was time for the to head to base. Turning towards the Autobots, he called and said that they should head to out towards the base. Nodding the Autobots transformed and let their charges climb on before heading off.

* * *

Once they head entered the base, where Optimus and Ratchet seemed to have been in the middle of a conversation as Jack and the others got out of their respective guardians. Optimus then came forward to speak to them.

"Autobots prepare to - ." he started before he looked more closely at them.

"Roll out?" Arcee asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"Remain here. While Ratchet and myself head out. We will be out of communications range for some time, thus I am putting you in charge Arcee." Optimus finished as Ratchet worked on the Ground Bridge.

"Dude your biggest, you should be in charge." Miko said to Bulkhead.

"He never picks me." He replied shaking his head.

"Optimus, with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing, babysitting is another." Arcee stated. "Besides, Ratchet hasn't been out in the field since Cybertron."

"My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing isn't!" The aforementioned Autobots shot back.

"For the moment, it is simply a reconnaissance mission." Optimus replied.

"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?" Arcee argued back.

"Arcee much has changed in the past twenty-four hours. As such, we must all learn to adapt." Optimus answered as the Ground Bridge opened up, before walking off with Ratchet towards their destination.

All the while they were talking, Jack had climbed the ladder where all the other computers were and placed a small circular device underneath one of the monitors, where no one would find it. The device would help J.A.R.V.I.S locate the base and hack into their data, giving him access to everything they knew and had. Once he was done he turned to see Optimus and Ratchet leave through the Ground Bridge.

A few minutes passed in silence, until Arcee said they she was going on patrol, Bumblebee following behind her when she ordered him to come along. Bulkhead tried to stop them, but was told off when Arcee told him that when your in charge you get to make the rules, before transforming and heading outside.

"So what's on the activities list?" Bulkhead asked, clearly not knowing what to do with his position.

His answer came in the reply of Miko tuning up her amplifier and jacking in her guitar to it. She played with some of her strings, making sure that everything was correct before answering her guardian.

How about…..band practice?" she asked.

"But we're not a band." Raf replied.

"Why so antisocial Raf?" Miko asked chuckling. "Come on, do you play anything?"

"Uuhh...keyboard?" Raf answered nervously, holding up his laptop.

Miko smiled at that. "Laptops and samples. Good job." Turning her head she looked at Jack and asked. "What about you, do you play anything?"

"I sometimes play the guitar." He answered.

Nodding her head, Miko was about to play her guitar when the proximity sensors went off. Stepping towards the console, Bulkhead saw that it was Agent Fowler. Jack and the others quickly hid behind Bulkhead foot and tried to stay clear of the agent's line of sight. Just as they hid behind Bulkhead, Agent Fowler had exited the elevator.

"PRIME!" he shouted out.

"Agent Fowler! Optimus is not here, nobody's here, well except me." Bulkhead told.

"Well where is he? Wait don't tell me, he's pancaking a mini-mall." Agent Fowler vented before looking down. He then noticed a wire stretch across the floor towards where Jack, Raf and Miko were hiding. "Since are you 'bots electric?" he asked.

Knowing that their cover was blown, Jack quickly signaled Raf and Miko to stay put before stepping away from Bulkhead's foot and directly in Fowler's sight. "Hey there." He called out.

"Contact with a civilian. Team Prime has really gone off book this time." Fowler muttered as he went downstairs. "Alright young man, you're coming with me into federal custody. It's for your own protection." He said.

Looking up at Bulkhead, Jack nodded at him before following Fowler into the elevator. Once they reached the top of the mesa, they boarded the helicopter and took off. Seating at the passenger seat while Fowler was speaking to someone, Jack wondered if he had made the right decision getting involved with the Autobots. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but whatever happened after this, he would not be staying with them. Once J.A.R.V.I.S has finished downloading all the information needed, he could begin making plans to deal with the Decepticons his own way.

The sound of an alarm sounding off interrupted his thoughts. Looking at Fowler, who seemed just as confused, he looked at the radar and saw that something was moving towards their position. Looking out the window, Jack spotted something small, almost like a bird fly straight at them, only to look closer to see what looked like a metal purple drone.

"What in the Sam hill!? Fowler cried out, before jerking the joystick up, to avoid the drone. "First the freeways aren't safe, now air travel?"

Fowler flew as quickly as he could, the drone keeping up with them. Seeing a cliff wall in front of them, Fowler pulled on the joystick, hard, and pulled the helicopter up above the cliff and flew straight ahead, the drone a little behind them. Moving forward, Fowler saw a drop and dipped the helicopter to just below the cliff face, where the drone flew passed them above. Quickly speeding up, Fowler tailed the drone as it tried to avoid a lock on.

"You wanna dance 'con? I'll lead!" Fowler said before squeezing the trigger and firing a barrage of bullets, most of them simply bouncing off.

The chase continued on for some time. The Decepticon drone avoiding the bullets while Fowler simply continued to fire his bullets. Suddenly there was a clicking sound, indicating that they were out of ammo. As if knowing this, the drone pulled up and then sliced through part of the helicopter, taking away their back rotors and sending them heading for a collision course to the ground.

"Never an Autobot around when you actually need one." Fowler said trying to keep control of the spinning helicopter.

Suddenly the drone landed in front of them and had four tentacles with claws at their ends grab their arms. Before they were taken out of the helicopter, Jack saw that Fowler had pressed one of the buttons. As they flew away from the spinning helicopter, they say it crash and burn before they were taken to who knows where.

* * *

 **And that's all folks. have an awesome day.**


	3. Darkness Rising Part IV

**Another day, another chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Being brought to the Decepticon warship was not something that he expected to be in when he rode with Arcee to base earlier. As he was being carried towards wherever the drone was taking him, Jack knew that he had to escape so that he could call the Autobots and relay to them what happened. With that in mind, Jack fished around his pocket and found what he was looking for. Grabbing it, he pulled it out of his pocket and tossed it at the drone's chest, causing a shock to run through it and for the drone to drop him before falling to the ground.

Rolling off the ground, Jack quickly made a break for it and pressed his finger to his ear. "J.A.R.V.I.S?"

"Yes sir?" was the reply he received.

"I need you to patch me through to the Autobots. I could use an assist." Jack replied as he continued running through hallway.

"There is no need sir. Bulkhead, Ms Nakadai and Mr Esquivel are aboard the warship." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

"What do you mean their aboard the warship!?" Jack cried out stopping in his tracks. He shook his head and continued to run. "Ok, where are they."

"Bulkhead and Ms Nakadai are on the left side of the next intersection, while Mr Esquivel is with Arcee and Bumblebee, sir." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

Doing as he was told, Jack kept running forward until he turned left, only to almost run right into Bulkheads foot. Looking up, he saw that Bulkhead was holding Miko in one hand while he was armed with the other.

"Jack!" Miko and Bulkhead cried out.

Before he could say anything, they heard footsteps and turned to see Arcee and Bumblebee with Raf just behind them turn the corner. They immediately raised their weapons before they both lowered them realising that they were not Decepticons. Jack ran towards Raf, while Bulkhead put Miko down. Looking at Raf, he noticed that he had brought him his red suitcase. Taking the suitcase and noticed that it wasn't damaged in any way he turned to look at Raf and asked.

"Why are you here Raf? And for that matter, why is Miko here?"

"Miko ran through the Ground Bridge after Bulkhead had received Fowler's distress call. Knowing we had to find you, you're AI and myself located Fowler and yourselves locations and bridged out. When I realised Miko had run through the Ground Bridge, I immediately opened the Ground Bridge, and was about to follow when your AI told me to bring that suitcase to you. Said that you might need it." Raf finished explaining.

Just as he had finished, a group of Decepticon drones had turned the corner at both ends of the hallway and started to fire at them. Jack quickly guided to cover while the Autobots dealt with them. Once the fighting had stopped, they came out of hiding and followed the Autobots until they came across one of the rooms. After clearing the room of Decepticons, Arcee told them to stay put before the Autobots went out and searched for Fower.

"That was….intense." Miko said.

Turning his body, Jack looked at Miko in disbelief, then in anger as he took a step towards her. "It's your fault you and Raf are stuck in this intensity. What were you thinking Miko?"

"Did I ask him to follow me?" She shot back.

"You wanted us to be a band. Doesn't that mean playing together?" Jack argued back.

"Maybe I wanted to go solo." Miko argued.

"Well, maybe I have some regard for your safety. Why did you think I told you guys to stay hidden while I went with Fowler?" Jack pointed out.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is your name 'Optimus'? You can leave my protection to Bulkhead, thank you very much." Miko argued back.

"Ahh! Stop it! Both of you!" Raf shouted, before running off.

Sighing Jack and Miko ran after Raf, who was sitting on the floor with his head resting on his arms, looking down. As Miko comforted Raf, Jack looked at one of the screens and saw what looked like schematics.

"Hey Raf. You seeing what I'm seeing? It seems like an equation for schematics, from what I can understand." Jack stated as he looked more closely at the screen. "We need to get this to Optimus."

"How do you know it isn't some kind of recipe?" Miko asked.

"I know math when I see it, and that's one serious equation." Raf replied.

"Anyway we can take it with us?" Jack asked.

Taking off his backpack and scrounged around, Raf pulled out a USB flash drive before making his way towards the screen. "I have a flash drive. But I don't see a way to plug in. This tech is way alien."

"Miko, do you have your phone with you?" Jack asked. Nodding her head, Miko pulled said phone. "Good, I need you to take a photo of the screen." He instructed. Miko held her up to the screen and lined up her shot and took the photo.

The door suddenly opened and one of the drones walked in. Quickly running behind the console, Jack and Miko saw that Raf had gone back for his backpack. Seeing the drone notice Raf and preparing to fire at him, Jack quickly ran at Raf and tackled him out of the way.

"Miko! Throw my suitcase to me!" Jack called out.

Nodding her head, Miko took the suitcase and heaved it around her before throwing it at him as it slid to his feet he told Raf to run to Miko. As the suitcase slid to his feet, he quickly stepped on it causing it turn upwards and open. Putting his hands onto the two handles on the two gauntlets, he pushed them in and curled his fingers, Jack pulled it up to his chest and spread his arms wide as the plating's shifted to cover him. When the mask slammed shut in his face and the heads up display came on, Jack activated his repulsors and fired them at the drone, sending it staggering.

"Raf, Miko RUN!" Jack shouted as he avoided the shots fired at him.

Seeing Raf and Miko run through the door, Jack turned his attention back to the drone. Flying forwards, he slammed his fist onto the drone's head and continued to pound away at the drone until he was thrown back by a shot to his chest. Slamming on to the ground, Jack got up and looked up and saw another drone standing next to the first drone. Flying around to avoid the shots from them, he activated his missiles and fired them. One of them must have hit their weapon, because the next he knew, there was an explosion and one of the drones arm was blown off. Taking his chance, Jack flew at the other drone, grabbed its weapon arm and fired it at his comrade. Once that was done, Jack flew out of the room, the drone chasing after him, firing his weapon. Avoiding its fire, Jack quickly did a one-eighty turn and flew straight at the drone once more and slammed onto it causing it to stagger back again. Landing on the floor, Jack directed power to the unibeam and fired, leaving a huge scorch mark on its chest. Looking down at its chest, the red visor on its head flickered black before falling backwards, hitting the ground with a thud.

"Sir, I have collected all the data from the Autobot Base and have access to the Ground Bridge." J.A.R.V.I.S spoke up.

"That was…Awesome!" Miko cried out, as she and Raf came out of hiding.

"I thought I told you two to run?" Jack asked.

"We did, but couldn't just leave you." Raf answered back.

Hearing engines behind him, Jack, Miko and Raf turned to see Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead coming towards them. Screeching to a halt, they came to a stop next to them.

"I thought I told you to stay put!?" Arcee stated. "And where's Jack?"

Miko and Raf pointed to the suit of armour standing next to them. Said person lifted his visor, to show his face, before closing it and lifted off, hovering.

"No time to talk, we have to get going. Do you have Agent Fowler?" Jack asked lifting the dead drone by its chest.

"Yeah." Arcee replied.

"Good, then let's get out of here. J.A.R.V.I.S open up a ground bridge." Jack said.

"Yes sir." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

* * *

After they had returned from the Decepticon warship, and opening a Ground Bridge for Optimus and Ratchet, they relayed what had transpired after they had left. While Optimus fixed up Ratchet's arm. To put it simply, Optimus was not happy with what he had learned.

"What happened to you guys anyway?" Miko asked.

"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors." Ratchet answered.

"Zombies? You fought zombies and I missed it?" Miko asked.

Ignoring her outburst, Optimus turned to Bulkhead. "Bulkhead, you exercised extremely poor judgement by first allowing Jack to be taken, then allowing Miko and Raf to accompany you."

Looking at Miko then at Optimus and apologised. "It won't happen again, Optimus. I promise."

"But it wasn't Bulkhead's fault." Miko said, trying to defend her guardian. "And check it out. Recon!" Miko finished, showing her phone to Optimus.

Looking more closely at the picture, Optimus turned to Ratchet. "Hmm, Ratchet have a look. It could be important to Megatron's plans."

Doing as told, Ratchet took a closer look at the phone only to be confused. "I don't get it?"

Looking at her phone, Miko realised that it was the drone that Jack had defeated earlier that she took a photo of. "Oops, wrong one. That's the 'con who tried to blow Raf away. At least that's what he looked like before Jack here turned him into scrap." Miko amended, indicating to the drone that was lying near the Ground Bridge.

Jack, clearly upset with Miko's lack of care towards today's events exploded on her. "Miko, Raf was almost killed. This isn't a game! When are you going to get that through your thick skull?!"

"We were all almost killed Jack." Miko argued back. "You, me, Raf, even them!"

"If this is an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of this. Not anymore." Jack stated.

"Jack." Optimus' baritone voice called out. "Putting you in harm's way was never our intention. However, it is no longer your safety that is no longer at risk. But that of all of humanity. We will respect your decision to leave, if you wish."

Nodding his head, Jack, who had kept his armour on, once again dropped his visor. "J.A.R.V.I.S, open a Ground Bridge to the workshop."

"Yes sir." J.A.R.V.I.S replied through the speakers.

Turning around to Raf, he looked at him and knew, even without asking that he would stay with the Autobots. "You take care of yourself, okay?" he asked.

Raf simply nodded his head and smiled at Jack. As he walked towards the bridge, he passed by Arcee and looked up at her. Sadness clearly etched on her face.

"I know, you don't exist." He said, walking past her.

"Don't make me hunt you down." Was all he heard her say, before carrying the drone with him through the Ground Bridge and towards his workshop.

* * *

After he had returned from the Autobot base, Jack had J.A.R.V.I.S scan the Decepticon drone he had brought back, while he went to fix the his suit. Afet he had done that, he went through the data that J.A.R.V.I.S had collected from the base. The one thing that he was intrigued the most about was the technology that the Ground Bridge used, he wondered if he could create a portable one, where he could transport anywhere around the world. Going through the math in his head, Jack knew he could create his own portable Ground Bridge, the only thing he needed was the time and resources to make one.

"Sir the scans are complete and I have also taken the liberty of removing every piece of plating from the drone you had brought back." J.A.R.V.I.S called out to Jack.

"Good, have them set aside for testing. Now then let's see what makes you tick." Jack said as he went to the now exposed Decepticon.

Two hours later, after he had drained the 'con off of its Energon, he had taken apart the 'con, separating every piece he had taken out, before he had gone through the data from the Autobot base to learn more about the pieces. Learning the fact that the piece called a T-Cog helped them to transform, gave Jack an idea of creating his own transform, before he scrapped the idea completely.

"Sir, one Bulkhead and Ms Nakadai are outside." J.A.R.V.I.S stated.

"Let them in." Jack answered.

Walking towards Bulkhead, who had stayed in vehicle mode after Miko had exited, he seemed to be curious about everything, as was Miko. Walking towards his other suits, Miko looked more closely at them before turning around to look at what he was doing.

"Now I understand why you had to rush here." She said.

"Don't you have something more exciting to do Miko?" Jack asked, moving back to studying the data.

"So this is where you hang. Back home in Tokyo I have loving parents and two purebred cats, Chi-Chi and Ding-Dong. I went to the best school, took piano lessons since I was three…"Miko explained.

"How nice for you." Jack stated, not looking away from his work.

"No, how boring." Miko rebutted. "It wasn't me. Why do you think I jumped at the chance to get away from all that? To transfer here?"

Clearly not expecting such an answer, Jack finally turned away and looked at Miko. "To Jasper Nevada? The entertainment capital of the world?" he scoffed out.

Chuckling, Miko walked over to him and stood next to where he sat. "Yeah well, the brochure lied. Piano lessons were starting to look pretty good, in fact. But the last few days happened, and everything changed."

Shaking his head, Jack wondered what she was getting at. "Do you have a point, Miko?"

She smirked before replying. "I saw what you did today, when you saved Raf."

Looking away from her, Jack walked over to his Iron Man suits. "I've been raised to be responsible. To my schoolwork, to my mom."

"Dude, your no fry cook, you're a hero. Stop pretending to be normal Jack. You'll never fit in. You made all these suits, for what? It's because you were born to do so much more." Miko tried to convince Jack.

Walking up next to him, Miko placed a hand on his shoulder and noticed that he seemed to be staring at his reflection, deep in thought. Worried for him, Miko place a hand on his cheek and turned his head to her.

Giving him a kiss on the cheek, Miko smiled as it seemed to have snapped him back to reality. "That was for saving Raf and myself earlier."

As Miko walked back to Bulkhead, Jack could not help but notice that she seemed to swaying her hips. As Bulkhead and Miko left, Jack thought back the kiss Miko had just given him and how he could still feel it on him. Smirking, he simply went back to work.

* * *

 **One more chapter in the story done. If you like please leave a review so i can know.**

 **Anyway have an awesome day.**


	4. Darkness Rising Part V

**The finale to Darkness Rising. let's see what happens. enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 4

The next day as Jack was leaving work, he noticed that Arcee was parked in the exact same place he had met her for the first time. Walking over, he wondered why she was here. Maybe to keep an eye on him? Who knows?

"Arcee really, Miko already tried last night. Tell Optimus that I respect him, but if you're fighting a war with the Decepticons, then I want no part of it." He said.

"Optimus didn't send me Jack." Arcee replied. Sighing she continued on. "Maybe it's the grief talking, but I just lost someone I cared about. Maybe you've grown on me. But whatever it is, I'm not ready to lose another partner."

"I truly am sorry for your loss Arcee, but…..I just don't think I can join in on your war." Jack said as he turned away from Arcee and looked at the KO Burger sign.

"I understand Jack. And goodbye." Arcee said before she activated her holoform and drove off.

Sighing, Jack turned to watch Arcee speed off, before he went to unlock his bike and head back to his workshop. Peddling his way to his workshop, Jack kept going back to what Miko had said about him last night, about him being a hero, about being born to do more. The more he thought about it, the more he thought about what his father had told him when he was six years old.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _Jack opened the front door as he returned from school and saw his mother preparing dinner, while his father was watching the TV._

" _Welcome home Jack. How was – JACK!" His mother cried out as she saw the state that her son was in._

 _Getting off from the couch, Aaron Darby quickly made his way to Jack and knelt down in front of him while June went for the medical kit. Taking a closer look at Jack, Aaron saw that he had a busted lip and a few bruises on his face. Taking his bag away from him, Aaron carried Jack to the couch where June was waiting for them._

 _Setting Jack down and letting his wife help heal their son, Aaron sat down on the nearby chair and covered his face in his hand and sighed. Once June was done, Aaron looked at Jack, who was covering his face by curling into a ball, trying to be as small as possible._

" _Jack." Aaron spoke up. "Jack look at me and tell me what happened."_

 _Jack looked up at his father but kept silent. Sighing, Aaron got off his chair and knelt in front of his son. "Jack, please I need to know what happened to you. You're not going to be in trouble."_

 _Sighing, Jack kept silent until he decided to speak up. "It was Vince and his friends, they were bullying one of my classmates after school. I told them to leave him alone, but they simply laughed at me. When I didn't they - ." at that Jack clammed shut._

" _They what Jack? What did they do to you?" Aaron asked._

" _They beat me up. After they were done they left. When I tried to help my classmate, he yelled at me for helping him. He told me that he didn't ask for my help and that I should just stay away from him." Jack explained. "Was he right dad? Did I do the right thing helping him? Even if he didn't ask for it."_

 _Looking at his son, Aaron smiled at him and sat next to his son on the couch. "Listen to me Jack. What you did was indeed the right thing. I want you to remember what I'm about to tell you ok. Can you do that?" he asked. Getting a nod from Jack, Aaron continued. "Doing what is right sometimes doesn't always reward you with a thank you. What you did was heroic, Jack. Even if you don't believe it yourself. I believe there's a hero in all of us. That keeps us honest. Gives us strength. Makes us noble. And finally allow us to die with pride. Even though we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most….even our dreams."_

" _So doing what is right, makes us a hero?" Jack asked._

" _Exactly Jack." Aaron praised. "You know those comics you read? The one's with the superheroes." He asked getting a nod from Jack. "You know how they don't always get praised for their deed? Have you ever wondered why they continue to be heroes?" Jack shook his head. "Well it's simply because they can do so. If you have the ability to help someone, then you should. No matter the outcome, good or bad, you can look in the mirror and say that you did good helping someone."_

 _Flashback_

* * *

Opening the door to his workshop and turning on the lights. Jack made his way to his work table and sat down.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, what are the Autobots doing?" he asked his AI

"They are currently at the Space Bridge, above Earth's atmosphere." J.A.R.V.I.S answered. "They hope to stop Megatron from bringing an army of undead Cybertronions to Earth, sir."

"Right then, do you have a fix on their location?" Jack asked.

"Yes sir." J.A.R.V.I.S answered back.

"Time to suit up J.A.R.V.I.S, get me the War Machine armour." Jack said as he went to change into his full bodysuit.

Once he was ready, Jack stepped onto the platform where the War Machine armour was waiting. It was mostly black coloured with gunmetal grey at certain areas such as the midriff and legs. It had a large machine gun attached to its back, two miniguns hidden in his arms and several missiles hidden beneath the exoskeleton. The suit was built to take a lot of punishment, as well as dish it out. The suit opened up from behind and closed around Jack when he stepped inside.

"J.A.R.V.I.S open a Ground Bridge to the Autobot Base. Once I'm in I need you to shut it off then open it again to the same coordinates Optimus and the others are in." Jack instructed.

The green vortex appeared in front of him. Stepping into it, Jack realised that Ratchet was the only one in the base, and was staring at him. As Ratchet turned was about to shut the Ground Bride down. It suddenly shut down by itself and then turned back on. Hovering, Jack shot forward through the bridge and was transported immediately in front of the Space Bridge.

"J.A.R.V.I.S patch me into the comms with Optimus and the others." Jack instructed as he made his way closer.

"Already done sir." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

"Optimus, can you hear me. If you can, know that the cavalry is here." Jack spoke out.

There was nothing before the familiar baritone voice of Optimus Prime answered. "I hear you Jack. But I must ask that you leave quickly. You are no match for Megatron or his army."

"No can do Optimus. I came here to help and that's what I'm going to do." Jack replied before he shot forward towards a squadron of Decepticons flier's ad turned into scrap by firing his machine gun at their engines.

Continuing his flying, Jack continued to take out the Decepticon fliers till none came anymore. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light as the Space Bridge activated. Seeing Megatron rise from within the warship, holding a large purple crystal and then throwing it at the Space Bridge. Jack quickly sped forward, firing his missiles as well as his minigun to hopefully destroy it before it reached the Space Bridge. The missiles hit the crystal formation and caused a large chunk to break off, but not enough to stop it as the formation went through Space Bridge.

"So….how do we defeat a whole planet of the undead?" Jack heard Bulkhead ask through the comms.

"Optimus, I'm reading a rapidly increasing mass in their Space Bridge vortex. One with a peculiar Energon signature. Ratchet stated.

"Dark Energon." Optimus answered. "Ratchet, we must destroy the Space Brigde. There is enough live Energon coursing through it to cause to achieve detonation. But we lack the firepower to do so."

"If I had a technical readout of the Space Bridge, I could help you achieve such a feat. But Optimus, I must say that the Space Bridge is our only way back to Cybertron. Are you sure this is what you want?" Ratchet asked.

"I am afraid so, old friend." Optimus answered.

"Then by all means, let us light our darkest hour!" Ratchet cried out.

"Autobots, take your positions and follow Ratchet's lead." Optimus ordered. "While I deal with Megatron."

"You mean we deal with Megatron." Jack stated as he flew up next to Optimus. "And I'm not taking a no for an answer Optimus."

Before he could reply, Megatron landed in front of them. "Your fellow Autobots are wise Optimus, they know when to retreat." He stated, only to notice Jack. "And who is this? A minicon?"

"I have no illusions of engaging your army Megatron. Bit I might derail its objective, by removing its head." Optimus said as he transformed his arm into a sword.

Megatron simply laughed. "Highly unlikely Optimus, as I am infused with their very MIGHT!"

Optimus simply narrowed his optics. "One shall stand. One shall fall."

As if some unspoken signal was given, Megatron unsheathed his sword, gave a war cry and ran towards Optimus, as he did the same to Megatron. Meeting in the middle, they clashed their swords together, parrying and dodging each other's strike, until Optimus landed a punch to Megatron's head. Seeing his chance, Jack quickly shot forward from the side and punched Megatrons head, causing the warlord to stumble. Thrusting his hands forward, Jack fired off beams from his repulsors as well as firing his shoulder missiles. Megatron was thrown back from the impact the missiles had, but not before firing three shots at him, to which he avoided them all.

"Sir, I highly suggest that you do not get hit by those shots." J.A.R.V.I.S called out to Jack. "They contain Dark Energon. If you get hit by them, your suit would shut down, sir."

"Duly noted J.A.R.V.I.S." Jack replied.

Seeing Optimus was lying on the ground, with Megatron standing above him about to kill him, Jack shot forward. "J.A.R.V.I.S, put everything we have into the thrusters."

"I just did sir." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

Flying as fast he could, Jack fired off his repulsors at Megatron to keep him busy while Optimus recovered. Landing a little ways away from Megatron, Jack activated every weapon he had and aimed it at him. Growling Megatron ran forward hoping to squish what he thought was a minicon. Hoping that he could slow him down, Jack fired everything at Megatron. Missiles blew up upon impact, bullets bounced off his armour, like hard pellets and his repulsor blasts slowed Megatron even more. Flying towards Megatron, Jack proceeded to deliver a beat down on Megatron, and due to his small size, Megatron had a hard time catching him.

Ultimately his luck had to have run out at some point, and that came when Megatron swatted him away with his arm, causing him to fall to the ground. Struggling to get up, he was suddenly picked up and thrown towards Optimus.

"Power at forty-two percent, sir." J.A.R.V.I.S stated.

Looking up, Optimus and Jack saw Megatron raise his sword before something seemed to have stopped him. Whatever seemed to have stopped him, caused him to look at them amused. "Ah, misdirection. You would have made a fine Decepticon, Prime."

Megatron swung his sword down, only for it to be stopped by Optimus' own broken one. "I chose my side." He said before changing his sword to that of a gun and fired.

Flying back Megatron quickly evaded the rest and transformed into his vehicle form and flew off. Jack quickly took off after him. As Megatron flew to where Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were, Jack fired at his machine gun at his engines. When one of the bullets hit inside Megatron's engine, it caused him to lose control and transform back into robot form. Shooting forward, Jack continued to fire his weapons at Megatron. So focused was he at firing at Megatron, he did not realise that the Decepticon returned fire at him until he was thrown back from the blast.

The blast was a lot stronger than when the Decepticon drone fired at him yesterday. Jack was thrown back even further when Megatron continued to fire at him, most of the shots missing, but those that managed to hit made it harder for him to regain control of his suit.

"Power at twenty percent and dropping fast. I suggest a retreat, sir. Also the Space Bridge is about to explode" J.A.R.V.I.S said.

"Autobots, jump!" Optimus ordered as the Ground Bridge opened

"J.A.R.V.I.S reroute whatever power we have left to the unibeam and fire." Jack ordered. Charging up his unibeam.

Once the charge as complete, Jack fired it straight at Megatron, who returned fire by shooting two shots at Jack, both of which impacted him on the chest and sending blasting into the Ground Bridge.

* * *

"Is he okay, Ratchet?"

"What happened Prime?"

"And what of Megatron?"

"Come back to us Jack, please."

These were some of the things Jack heard as he slipped in and out of unconsciousness. But it was the last one that caused him to wake up from his lack of consciousness. Getting up, the first thing Jack saw was the Autobots, Miko, Raf and Agent Fowler all listen to Optimus. Knowing that none of them noticed him, he got up and staggered towards the 'bots. When they heard footsteps behind them, they turned to see Jack stagger towards them before stopping in front of them.

"Hey everyone." He greeted as he raised his visor.

"Hello Jack, are you well?" Optimus asked smiling down at him.

"I'll live Optimus. What about you and the others?" Jack asked as he looked at the scraps and dents they had.

"We are fine Jack. Thank you for your assistance in dealing with Megatron and his forces." Optimus answered.

"If it's all the same Optimus, I would like to join you guys. That is if you guys will have me." Jack asked.

Optimus nodded and smiled at him. "You are always welcome here Jack."

Nodding Jack turned to look at Raf, Fowler and Miko. He stepped forward and got out of his armour, before standing in front of them. He was suddenly hugged by Raf and Miko, smiling he hugged back.

"You came back." Raf stated with the biggest smile Jack had ever seen.

"You bet Raf." Jack assured him.

"Well done son, you've done your country and your race proud." Fowler praised as he put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll make sure you're properly rewarded for this."

Turning to Miko, Jack simply smiled at her. "Thank you Miko." Confused Miko gestured for him to continue. "For what you said last night. About me being born to do more and for believing in me." He finished before he kissed her on the cheek.

As the Autobots discussed about what would happen now that Megatron was gone and Starscream was in charge of the Decepticon. Jack knew that whatever was going to happen, he knew that they would not be alone in their fight with the Decepticons. Why?

Because he is Iron Man.

* * *

 **I'm not very good at writing romance, but i decided to give it a try.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter. anyway have an awesome day.**


	5. Scrapheap

**Once again another chapter. Now before I begin, some context. I'm having Jack follow the timeline of when Jack builds his suits somewhat. Some will come earlier, others later.**

* * *

Chapter 5

It was a good thing that he had finished his science project earlier, or he would have had to deal with Ratchet's insistence on helping them with it. It has been a week since the Space Bridge incident and things were progressing steadily with the Autobots. After he had gotten permission from Optimus and Ratchet, Jack moved his entire workshop into one of the empty room within the Autobot base. He could now work on his suits and experiments while having input from Ratchet. During the week, he had asked Ratchet about their plating and how much punishment it could take. When asked why, Jack told him that he wanted to make a suit made out the same metal, to help better protect him from the Decepticons weapons.

He had even asked Agent Fowler to provide him with the parts and weapons he needed to arm his suits. His first suit to be made of Cybertronion metal was the Mark V. It had better armour, several laser based weapons, besides the standard repulsors, more missiles as well as a slightly more powerful Energon reactor. The colour scheme was mostly kept the same, with silver on certain parts, such as the upper arms and the knees.

* * *

"Sir, Optimus and Arcee are about to head out." J.A.R.V.I.S told Jack as he was working on the portable Ground Bridge.

"Alright J.A.R.V.I.S, thank you." He said putting his work down.

Heading towards the main area, Jack noticed that Ratchet was telling Arcee and Optimus something, while Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Miko and Raf arrived at the base. Watching from afar, he saw that Miko and Raf were wondering if they could come with them on their artic exploration, to which they were told that the weather conditions were too extreme for even them. They understood and were about to walk away, when Optimus said that he would bring them back a snowball, before walking through the Ground Bridge with Arcee.

Once the Ground Bridge closed, there was a sudden crackling of electricity and smoke rising from the controls, telling Jack that something was wrong. Just as he was about to see what had happened, J.A.R.V.I.S contacted him. "Sir, there seems to be something crawling in the base. And they seem to be nearing your workshop."

Eyes widening, Jack immediately ran towards his workshop. Running through the hallways, Jack finally saw his workshop entrance, but before he could get there, he tripped on something. Looking down, Jack saw what looked like a small floating round head with giant blue optics. Taking a closer look, he realised that it wasn't floating, but rather that it had a small body, short pincers for arms and short legs. The entire thing was black with orange streaks across its body and head.

"The Autobots didn't mention they had pets." Jack said as the creature continued to look at him before coming up to his leg.

Kneeling down, Jack held his hand out and let it climb on. "Well whatever you are, I can ask the Autobots later."

Continuing on towards his lab, Jack would occasionally look down at the strange creature as it just laid on his hand. Walking into his workshop, he looked around it and noticed that nothing seemed to be out of place or missing. The lights suddenly flickered then shut off completely before turning back on.

"J.A.R.V.I.S what happened?" he asked.

"I am unsure sir. It could be the power grid." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

"Well, let's just hope that the Autobots didn't forget to pay the electricity bill." Jack joked.

Hearing clicking sounds from above, Jack looked up. Seeing nothing, he just shrugged his shoulders and was about to leave before he heard it again. This time it came from behind, which was then accompanied by the sound of drilling. Turning around quickly, he saw the same creature he was holding, except the colour scheme was mainly silver with purple optics, eating one of his tools.

"I NEEDED THAT!" Jack shouted, grabbing one of his wrenches and started to smash the little creature.

Once he was done, he put the wrench down and went to take a closer look at the now destroyed creature. Looking at the one on his hand, who seemed to just look back at him, he wondered why this one was different and why it wasn't trying to eat his equipment.

"You're not going to eat my stuff as well, are you?" he asked. It simply chirped back at him.

Shrugging his shoulders, Jack went to put on the Mark V armour in case there was trouble, and proceeded out of his workshop and towards the main area holding the destroyed creature in hand. When he arrived, he noticed that Raf and Miko were playing a game while Ratchet, Bulkhead and Bumblebee seemed to be looking at the circuit under the floor panels.

"Hey guys, I need you to look at something for me." He stated, moving closer to the 'bots.

"We're busy!" Ratchet told Jack before widening his opice and screamed in terror. "AHHHH!"

"WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!" Bulkhead screamed as he and the other 'bots stumbled back activating their weapons. Looking absolutely terrified.

"Whoa! What's with you guys?" Miko asked as she and Raf stepped in front of Jack.

"SCRAPLET! SCRAPLET!" Bulkhead shouted.

"What's a scraplet?" Raf asked, confused by the sudden turn of events.

"Only the vilest vermin to ever walk on the face of Cybertron." Ratchet answered.

"You're giant robots. Scrappy here is…..teeny." Miko said, emphasising her point by showing just how small it was with her thumb and forefinger.

"You have no idea what that 'teeny' thing can do!" Bulkhead rebutted.

"Aw, he wouldn't hurt anything." Raf assured as he rubbed the scraplet's head.

The scraplet who had fallen asleep on the way to the main area, blinked its optics, waking up and looked up at the Autobots and chirped at them. Jack looked down at it and then at the destroyed scraplet and tossed it on the floor.

"Well I found this one." He said indicating to the scraplet on the floor. "Eating one of my tools, before I destroyed it. The question is why this one didn't."

"All scraplets do is dismantle machinery and eat anything metal – especially _living_ metal." Bulkhead told as he and Bumblebee deactivated their weapons.

"Well, he doesn't seem to want to eat you." Jack said.

The scraplet chirped at them and got off Jack's hand and started to run in circles around him, before it snuggled up his leg and looked up at him chirping. Chuckling he bent down and started to rub its head causing the scraplet to chirp in contentment. Miko also joined in on the rubbing, the scraplet looked up at her and jumped into her arms and snuggled into her.

"Aw, Anata wa totemo kawaii!" Miko squealed.

"Yes well, I don't know why yours hasn't decided to eat us, but there are never more than just these two. And I believe I know how they got in." Ratchet said, steering the conversation back to the topic on hand as he walked off, the others following.

Arriving to where the pod that Bulkhead and Bumblebee brought back was thawing, they noticed a large hole that looked like it had been eaten from the inside out.

"It's a trap. A scraplet trap." Ratchet stated.

Bulkhead, who was hiding on the far side of the hole, looked inside and pointed out. "An empty scraplet trap."

"It was most likely have to have been ejected eons ago, only to wind up here in the artic where the temperature kept them in stasis." Ratchet explained.

"Until we brought the thaw." Jack said. "How many are we talking about Ratchet? A hundred?" he asked.

"No, with the Ground Bridge damage and the power malfunctions, there must be thousands of them and their infestations seem to be well under way." Ratchet answered.

"Ratchet to Optimus, do you read me? We have a situation." Ratchet called, trying to make contact with them over the comms, only to hear static. "The scraplets have gotten into the comm link stations. If we don't eradicate these things immediately, they'll turn this whole base into a scrapheap!"

"Well I say we bug out of here and let them keep it!" Bulkhead suggested, Bumblebee nodding in agreement.

Only for Ratchet to shoot down the idea. "Evacuation is not an option. If we don't get the Ground Bride working again, Optimus and Arcee will perish."

Miko, upset about how Bulkhead was acting walked up to him. "Bulkhead! You never run."

"Miko, you haven't seen a swarm of these devour a 'bot. I have!" Bulkhead stated. "They pick you apart from the inside out. Going for the small juicy bits first, then fuse by fuse, circuit by circuit, until there is nothing left. Not even your optics."

"You've got to let us help." Jack said as he put his scraplet down onto the table, as it fell asleep.

"We're not made of metal, well Jack's armour is, but the point till stands." Raf pointed out to the 'bots.

"Typically, I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality. " Ratchet stated. "But due to the circumstances, it will give you an advantage."

"Alright then, so we pair off. One 'bot one human. I'll stay with you Ratchet, while Miko will go with Bulkhead and Raf will go with Bumblebee." Jack instructed.

While Ratchet was working on the Ground Bride, Jack was scanning the area while also scanning the scraplet he had. Wat the scan told him was that it was weak against the cold and water, it also showed that the reason his didn't try to eat the 'bots was because it was different than the others. From what he had found, his scraplet had a mini T-cog inside it and that it also could understand him to a certain degree, showing that it had some rudimentary ability to think for its own self. It would also explain the reason for the difference in colour scheme from the others.

"How's it going on over there Ratchet?" he asked.

"I've repaired the damaged conductors, and rerouted the central conduits, but the Ground Bridge still won't receive power!" Ratchet answered slamming his fist on the floor in frustration.

"J.A.R.V.I.S check to see if there's a leak in the systems." Jack said.

"Sir, there seems to be a breach in the Energon fuel lines." J.A.R.V.I.S answered after a few minutes of silence.

Yet before Jack could tell Ratchet about the fuel lines, he heard clicking sounds from above him. Turning around and looking up, he saw a swarm of scarplets crawling around the walls coming from one of the large vents. As if they knew they were being watched, they looked at him before they turned their heads towards Ratchet and started to fly towards him.

"You didn't tell me they could fly!" Jack exclaimed as he started to shoot at the swarm with his repulsors. They continued to fly towards Ratchet ignoring Jack completely. Those that managed to avoid Jacks firing started to eat at Ratchets plating. "Ratchet!"

Flying forward, Jack knew he could not fire any of his heavy ordinance at the scraplets without hurting Ratchet. Using his repulsors, he continued to fire until there were none of the scraplet left. Looking around, he noticed the other 'bots enter the area with injuries and leaking small amount of Energon.

"Ratchet get the patch kit, we're leaking Energon – WHOA!" Bulkhead exclaimed as even more scraplets entered.

The flying scraplet noticed that more food had appeared and started to fly and eat at them. Raf and Miko trying to help their guardians.

"J.A.R.V.I.S activate the electromagnetic pulse and target all enemy scraplets!" Jack ordered.

Flying up, Jack spread his arms out, causing a dome of energy and electricity to spread across the entire room. As the dome spread, every scraplet that was caught was deactivated, causing them to fall, landing on the floor with a soft thud. Once every scraplet had fallen, Jack landed on the floor and turned to see the Autobots, leaning back as Raf and Miko started to bang on the scraplets heads, just to be sure that they were dead.

"Is that all of them? Did we get them all?" he asked, as his own scraplet came running at him, jumped and landed on his shoulder.

Hearing more whirring sounds told them that were more of them, a lot more. "Hardly, these were just scouts." Ratchet answered, much to Bumblebee and Bulkhead's horror.

"So the rest of them know we're in here." Bulkhead asked.

"If we allow ourselves to become their next meals, then Optimus and Arcee will never make it back alive. We must get the Ground Bridge operational. So think Ratchet think." Ratchet finished.

"Well, the reason the Ground Bridge is still down despite repairs, is because there is a leak in the Energon fuel lines." Jack answered. "If we can get the Ground Bridge working we could send them back to the artic. With their small body mass, the sub-zero temperature should freeze them on contact." He finished explaining.

"Sweet! One stop shopping." Miko said.

"So where do we find it? And how do we fix it?" Raf asked.

'I know where it is. I'll guide you and Miko towards the breach." Jack said. "But I first need you to go into my workshop and grab some spare plating's and welders. Unfortunately I can't go with you."

"You can count on us Jack." Miko said as she and Raf made their way to his workshop.

"So if we – when we get the Ground Bridge working, do we send the scraplets out, or do we bring Optimus and Arcee back in?" Bulkhead asked.

Looking at him Ratchet answered. "If Optimus and Arcee come back first, the scraplets would have no reason to leave. What we need is bait."

"And where exactly are we going to find bait, Ratchet? The scraplets have just about eaten everything in here." Jack asked.

"Hey Jack, we have what we need, where to now?" He hear Miko call him.

"Alright. I need you to make a left from my workshop, once there you should see a large pipe, follow it and it will lead you to the breach." Jack instructed as he had a visual on them from the cameras.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, I need you to make an exact replica of the 'bots signature, so that we could have the scraplets follow us instead. Expand the size to that of Optimus'." Jack instructed

After a few minutes, Raf and Miko found the breach and started to weld the metal plating to the breach, sealing it. Once that was done and the power had been restored to the Ground Bridge, Jack punched in the coordinates to Optimus and Arcee's location and activated it.

J.A.R.V.I.S suddenly spoke up on his comms. "Signature copied sir."

"Good. Deactivate it once I'm through the Bridge" Jack replied as he flew up and shot some of the scraplets that had flew in. Turning to where they were getting shot at, they saw a large mass of Energon flowing through Jack and flew at him.

Once they started to come after him, Jack shot towards the Ground Bridge, the scraplets chasing after him. Once he went through the Ground ridge, he saw Optimus and Arcee hobbling their way forward.

"GET DOWN GUYS! SCRAPLETS!" he shouted at them.

Banking left and flying a little ways off, Jack started to fire at the scraplets that flew out of the Ground Bridge, giving no time to try and make their way to the two other Autobots. Those that were not destroyed by Jack were immediately frozen thanks to the temperature, making them bounce off harmlessly off of Optimus and Arcee. Once the last scraplet was frozen, Jack turned to the two of them.

"I'd invite you guys in, but the place is a right mess." Jack said as he back into the Ground Bridge, Optimus and Arcee following.

* * *

"Report bio circuitry status." Ratchet instructed.

"Levels are rising." Jack answered.

"Excellent. Rafael, keep a close eye on Bumblebee's electro-pulse monitor. Miko check Bulkhead's interface patch." Ratchet continued.

"It's steady." Raf answered followed by Miko.

"Looking good."

"Perhaps you should also get some rest as well old friend. You saved quite a few lives today." Optimus' baritone voice said.

"It wasn't me who saved us Optimus, but rather Jack, Miko and Rafeal. Without them we would all have been eaten. It is just fortunate that this infestation happened on a Saturday" Ratchet amended the Prime.

Looking down, Optimus saw that Jack was rubbing the scraplet's head and feeding it some small scraps of metal. As he continued to look on, Miko and Raf also came to pet at the scraplet, wo seemed to be preening under all the attention.

"Our human allies may be small, but they are strong." He said smiling down.

* * *

 **Translation:**

 **Anata wa totemo kawaii-Your so cute**

 **Anyway, thank you all for the reviews and for liking this story. Please leave more, and remember to ask questions if you guys want something.**

 **Have** **an awesome day.**


	6. Convoy

**Sorry this took some time, but i had to deal with a test and projects. But i'm back for two weeks, so expect to see chapters up at least once every other day. If i don't, well...i'll leave the rest to your imagination. Now onto the Chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 6

Jack sighed as he put his tools down. After the incident with the Decepticon posing as Wheeljack, a Wrecker much like Bulkhead, had infiltrated the base and tried to learn as much about them, and had failed, Jack couldn't get what had almost happened to Miko out of his head.

After he had gotten what it had wanted, he tried to escape with Miko as a hostage, only to fail when the real Wheeljack came through the Ground Bridge and threw the imposter out after saving Miko. After the whole episode was over, Jack went back to home, still thinking back to the moment was captured. He couldn't seem to get that image out of his head throughout the night and had a restless night of sleep.

When he had returned to base the next day, he immediately went to his workshop and continued his work on his portable Ground Bridge. It was complete by the end of the day, but had yet to be test it. Yet even with his plans on the new Iron Man suit still in the works, Jack could not get the thought of Miko getting hurt.

Hearing a knock on his door, Jack went to his door and opened it up to see the subject of his thoughts standing in front of him. Looking at her, Jack noticed that she seemed to be nervous about something, what with her not making eye contact at him and not in her usual attitude. Letting her in, Jack closed the door and went to stand next to her.

"You okay Miko? You seem a little nervous." He asked as she continued to not look at him.

He was about to continue, when Anthony came out and rubbed at Miko's leg. After the incident with the scraplets and getting permission from Optimus to keep him, Jack had brought him to his workshop and had spent some time coming up with a name for him. After trying some names, he tried his father's middle name. Much to his delight, the scraplet showed his delight by jumping up and down. The now dubbed Anthony was given a few more tests and then went to sleep.

While going through the data collected from Anthony, Jack learned that the scraplet needed small amounts of Energon to survive, and was the reason why he did not try to eat the Autobots.

Looking down, Miko smiled at Anthony and picked him and started to pet, much to the scraplet's delight. Yet as she continued to pet him, Jack could not help but wonder why she seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him. It was almost like how she acted with him after she had told him that her host parents thought that he was her boyfrie-! Wait that was it!

"Miko, is this about your host parents. Is this about what you told me last week?" he voiced out his thoughts.

Miko froze at the question and stopped rubbing Anthony's head. Seeing her shoulders slump, Jack knew that his assumption was correct and that he had to now wonder why she was worried about her host parents.

Miko sighed before turning to look at him, all the while rubbing Anthony's head. "My host parents have been wondering when they can meet you, and also why you haven't taken me on a 'date'." She said this with air quotes.

Taken aback by this, Jack scratched his chin in thought before snapping his fingers. "Well if your host parents want me to take you on a date, I say let's give them what they want."

Eyes widening, Miko clearly was not expecting him to suggest that. "What! Have you lost your iron head!? Why would you suggest something like that?!" she cried out.

"Well why not? If your host parents are expecting me to take you on a date, then we should oblige them. Besides, this will give us time to get to know each other better." He replied.

She raised one of her eyebrows at this, clearly not believing that he would suggest something so ridicules. But then she had a grin on her face and her eyes had a sly look in them. Putting Anthony down, she stepped up to Jack and leaned into him.

"Is that all you want to know?" she said as she placed a hand on his chest.

His breath hitching, Jack was clearly not expecting the sudden change of attitudes from her. "We-well…..that's…not what I meant." He stuttered out as he peddled backwards before he stumbled back onto his chair.

Continuing to grin at him, she started to sway her hips and walk towards him. When she was in front of him, she then sat on top of him and leaned even closer into him, till their noses were almost touching and that he could feel her breath on him. She then started to thread her hands through his hair, playing with some of the strands.

"Is little Jack uncomfortable with little old me sitting on him?" she said with a pout, her lower lip just barely touching his own.

Before he could give her an answer, Miko jumped off of him and walked towards the door, all the while swaying her hips. Before exiting she turned back towards him. "Saturday night, seven-thirty sharp, I'm sure you can find where I live Darby."

* * *

Exiting the room, Jack was left thunderstruck. As he continued to sit on the chair, he kept playing what she had just done to him and what she said after that. Shaking his head and bringing his mind back to the present, Jack went to leave his workshop, Anthony following behind him, before he spoke up. "J.A.R.V.I.S, set Saturday night for dinner with Miko, and could you find her house while you're at it."

"Very well sir." J.A.R.V.I.S acknowledged.

"PRIME!" Fowler called out. "PRIME!"

Walking forward with Arcee next to him, Optimus answered the clearly unhappy Agent. "Special Agent Fowler, to what do we owe-." He began only to be cut off.

"What else, 'cons. I chased them off with some hard ordnance, but not before they blew out of the sky!"

"Again?" Miko mocked, clearly amused as she petted Anthony.

"They tried to smash and grab for the D.I.N.G.U.S." Fowler told, ignoring Miko's snarky reply.

"The what?" Arcee asked.

"Dynamic Nuclear Generation System, aka D.I.N.G.U.S." Fowler explained as he showed them what it was. "It's a prototype energy source I'm porting to the west coast for testing."

Ratchet merely scoffed at the idea. "That's absurd! Why would the Decepticons want to have such a primitive technology?"

"Maybe they want to make big bad primitive weapon of mass destruction!" Fowler shot back. "If this baby were to melt down, it would irradiate this state and the four next door."

Raf seemed worried about what Fowler said. "Uhh did he say which state he was in?"

"I'm a sitting duck here Prime. I need you to spin up your Bridge and send the D.I.N.G.U.S to its destination." Fowler asked.

"I'm afraid that sending such a device through the Ground Bridge is unacceptable Agent Fowler. If there were to be an accident during its transmission, the radiation of which you speak would irradiate through the Ground Bridge to all _fifty_ states and beyond." Optimus explained.

Disappointed, Fowler looked at Optimus. "You got any better ideas?" he asked.

* * *

Keeping an eye on their signals, Jack, Miko, Raf and Ratchet made sure to track the convoy's signal in case there were to be any incidents. Jack folded his arms across his chest as he narrowed his eyes at the screen. Something about the whole mission felt wrong, like something bad was going to happen.

"Barring any incidents, you should reach your destination by sundown." Ratchet spoke as Jack made his way to the Mark V.

Ever since the Wheeljack incident, he had kept a suit of armour near the Ground Bridge in case of emergency. Once he got to his suit, Jack thought of a way he could improve his next suit. Maybe have them come at him when commanded or one with one made not for combat, but for medical treatment. Hearing a beeping sound from his earpiece, Jack pressed the button on it.

"Sir, there seems to be a situation with the convoy." J.A.R.V.I.S told.

"Thanks J.A.R.V.I.S." he said as he made his way to the others.

" _Our assailants are not Decepticons, but human."_ Optimus said over the comms.

"Human!?" Raf questioned. Standing next to Raf, he narrowed his eyes and wondered who they could be.

"Oh please, against our 'bots, their road kill!" Miko said, assured that they would stand no chance against the convoy.

"I wouldn't be so sure Miko." Jack disagreed. "Anyone who would willingly shoot down a military aircraft for a nuclear power supply is not to be underestimated."

" _Jack is right to feel weary Miko. We don't know what they're capable of."_ Optimus agreed.

Suddenly another voice spoke over the 'comms. One Jack had hoped he would never hear again. _"I hope you take better care of the D.I.N.G.U.S then you do your prisoners."_

" _Special Agent William Fowler here. Identify yourself!"_ Fowler ordered over to the person.

" _I am Silas. But of greater consequence to you, we are M.E.C.H."_ the now named Silas told. _"Fair warning, we will be helping ourselves to your device. Even if it means inflicting casualties."_

" _Is that so? Tell me Si, what's the market price for a D.I.N.G.U.S these days?"_ Fowler asked.

" _What's makes you think we intend to sell it Agent Fowler?_ Silas replied before cutting the transmission off.

Anger was something that Jack did not feel often, but with the fact that Silas was somehow alive and returned with a more powerful M.E.C.H, he knew that he could take no chances with them. If they were to find out about the Autobots, then there would be nothing that could stop them from trying to make their own, and that was something he can't have them doing.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, open up the Ground Bridge to their location and patch me to the Autobots!" Jack ordered as he got in his suit and flew through the now open Ground Bridge.

Exiting to the other side, Jack saw that he was just slightly behind the Autobots and M.E.C.H. Shooting forward, he used his repulsors and shot at the back of the M.E.C.H cars, causing them to either spin out of control or flip over and land on their top.

"Warning! Incoming projectile!" J.A.R.V.I.S warned.

Turning his head, Jack only for a moment saw that it was a missile coming straight at him before slamming right at him. Seeing more missiles at him he started dodging, he looked at where it came from and saw that it was Silas who had shot at him, before he moved back into the cockpit. Shooting forward, Jack was about to fire of his repulsors before he saw a squadron of Decepticons fly past him and fire their missiles at the Autobots who had just gotten through the train tunnel, destroying Optimus' trailer.

"Optimus you have incoming Decepticons!" Jack called over the comms.

Following the Decepticons, he saw that they had cornered the Autobots and had transformed right in front of Silas' eyes. Knowing that the jig was up, the Autobots too transformed and prepared for a fight. Seeing that Agent Fowler was at a safe distance, Jack knew that he could not allow for Silas to get the D.I.N.G.U.S and shot his repulsors at the circling helicopter. Dodging, the helicopter made one final round before flying towards the train.

"Jack, M.E.C.H is going after the D.I.N.G.U.S you have to stop them! The 'bots will deal with the 'cons." Fowler called out over the radio.

"Understood." Jack replied as he chased after them.

As Jack made his way over to the train, he noticed that as Silas made to land, the train suddenly changed tracks. Knowing that Raf had just hacked the controls for the train, he knew that with a train moving at ninety miles an hour, he could not just land on the train and keep his balance at the same time.

"Sir, I must tell you that Miss Nakadai is in the same car that the D.I.N.G.U.S is in." J.A.R.V.I.S said.

"Miko?" Jack asked.

Flying as fast as his armour could take, Jack quickly spotted three men in green suits board the helicopter, one of them carrying an unconscious Miko on his shoulder. Flying forward towards the helicopter, he was just about to reach it before he saw a missile hit the train tracks.

"Tell me Jack, what are you going to do?" Silas taunted over the radio. "Stop the train and let us go with the girl? Or try to save the girl but let this and the surrounding states become irradiated? Your choice Jack, and I would hurry, you don't have much time."

Growling, Jack knew that he could not just leave Miko in the hands of M.E.C.H. But he also could not just let D.I.N.G.U.S meltdown. Cursing himself for his ineptness, he shot towards the front of the train and used all of his enhanced strength and his armours thrusters to slow the train down as much as possible.

"J.A.R.V.I.S! Put everything into the thrusters!" Jack ordered as he strained to slow the train down.

"Already done sir." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

With the now boost in thrusters, there was a decrease in the train's speed, before it stopped altogether. And not a moment too soon as he saw he was just a few inches from failing. Hearing helicopter blades, Jack looked up to see Silas smirking at him before flying off.

Screaming in rage, Jack was about follow them, before his suit shut down and left him unable to do anything. While he waited for his suit to reboot, Jack could not help but think back to the day when he saw his father killed in front of him. Unable to do anything as he was held back, the last thing his father told him was that he loved him and his mother very much before he had his head shot in the back. He swore that he would never be helpless back that again, unable to do anything while someone else was hurt.

Seeing his systems reboot, Jack checked how much power he had left and was dismayed to see that he had used up all of his power and half of his reserves. He knew he could do nothing until he had recharged back at base. In the meantime he went back to the Autobots to see them finishing up with the Decepticons.

"Jack, did you deal with M.E.C.H?" Optimus asked.

"Unfortunately they got away. But not with the D.I.N.G.U.S, with Miko." Jack replied as he called for a Ground Bridge.

* * *

Petting Anthony, Jack looked at the Autobots as Bulkhead paced up and down muttering to himself. Looking down at Anthony, he knew the scraplet missed Miko and that it had taken a special liking to her as he spent a great deal of time with her if he was busy. Hearing a crunching sound, he looked up to see Bulkhead crush one of Ratchet's many tools.

"Bulkhead! I needed that!" Ratchet scolded, knowing that he only crushes his equipment when he was only very angry.

"You needed that? Well I need Miko." Bulkhead snapped back at the medical officer before turning to glare at Jack. "If you had just saved Miko, then we wouldn't be in this situation!" he shouted at him.

Jack simply quirked an eyebrow at Bulkhead before replying. "If I did that, then not only would everyone in four states of America be dead, then so would Miko. Is that what you wanted me to do Bulkhead? Sacrifice thousands of innocent people just to save Miko, only for her to die from radiation poisoning?" he calmly replied, but on the inside he was angry.

Bulkhead stopped at that and kept quiet. Knowing that he wanted to get her back soon, Jack knew that spending time here arguing would just give Silas more time to hurt Miko. Luckily for them, Jack installed a tracking device when he fixed her phone for her, in case anything should happen to her, like now.

"J.A.R.V.I.S how is the search coming along?" he asked.

"Good news sir. It seems I have just found her. She seems to be located in an abandoned town, in Bodie California. Also your armour's power is restored to its full capabilities." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

Nodding, Jack put Anthony down and put his suit on as J.A.R.V.I.S opened the Ground Bridge to the destination. Without saying anything, he few through the Bridge for the second time that day, the Autobots just behind him in their vehicle mode. Once they all passed through and the Bridge had closed, they made their way forward, wary for any M.E.C.H soldiers.

* * *

 **So what do you guys think? Good? Bad? i hope you at least liked a bit of the chapter. I hope i'm not pushing the Jack/Miko shipping in your faces, but if you haven't noticed by now these characters are somewhat OC. Anyway i need to answer some questions to the reviewers.**

 **CapMarvel asks if i would add the Iron Patriot armour. i'm not sure about that particular armour, but i'll see if i can put it in. Dont be upset if i dont though.**

 **Mazamba asks how can Jack afford everything he has. Well that will be explained in a later chapter. If you remember the first line in the story about secrets, thats going to be my way of answering how he could afford it all.**

 **Also i hope you understood some of my hints for future armours, to those who are true iron man fans. Remember if you have any questions, dont be afraid to ask. Criticism is appreciated, but please let it be constructive criticism. Also tell me what you think of a Ghost Rider Jack Darby as another story for you guys. Tell me in the reviews.**

 **Have an awesome day!**


	7. Silas: The Iron Monger

**Once again i have returned with another chapter! I have read your reviews again and i must say that you guys seem to like the idea of Ghost Rider Jack Darby. Well i hope to give you guys just that. anyway on with the chapter!**

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Chapter 7

"J.A.R.V.I.S, check for life signs." Jack ordered as he and the other Autobots made their way through the deserted town.

Seeing his HUD come up empty on the life signs, they kept moving through the town, hoping for some sign of M.E.C.H. Wondering why they had not encountered any M.E.C.H agents, Jack flew up to get a higher vantage point and try to scan for life signs again. Just as he was about to give up, Jack noticed something in the courtyard nearby. Scanning the area, jack saw that it was Miko's phone, just sitting in the courtyard. Flying towards it as the Autobots followed, Jack landed in front of said phone and scanned it for any traps. Getting a negative from his scans, Jack picked the phone up, only for it to start ringing. He waited for the Autobots to show up before he answered, putting it on speaker.

" _Hello Jack. It would seem that your attempt to track your friend seems to have come up short."_ The voice of Silas spoke. _"But not to worry, I still have he, and she is in perfect health."_

" _If you lay a finger on her, I'm going to-."_ Jack said narrowing his eyes only to be interrupted.

" _You'll what Jack? The last time we fought, you almost succeeded in killing me. Only to fail."_ Silas taunted. _"Make no mistake Jack, no harm will come to Miss Nakadai so long as you come to the coordinates in the phone. And Jack, you may not bring any of your transforming robots with you. If you do try to…well I'll be sure to send her to you in a body bag."_

Once the call ended, Jack sighed and held onto the phone. Looking back at the Autobots, who all had varying degrees of emotions going through their faces. Bulkhead was angry and was ready to smash something. Arcee and Bumblebee were upset that Silas had captured Miko, but they also had a questioning look in their face, as if wondering how he knew Jack. Optimus looked as stoic as ever, not letting any emotion pass through. Sighing again, Jack called for a Ground Bridge.

* * *

Once Jack knew where the coordinates would send him, he had turned white. He could not believe that he had to go back. Just thinking about that place only brought up memories he would rather forget. But Miko needed to be saved and no amount of self-doubt would do that. As Jack changed into his armour, the Autobots were discussing on whether or not they would go with Jack. Bulkhead wanted to go due to him being her guardian. Arcee wanted to because she was Jack's. It was finally decided by Optimus that they would follow Silas' demands and not go with Jack, much to Bulkhead and Arcee's chagrin.

Nodding to said Autobot, Ratchet input the coordinates in as he and the others watched as Jack stepped through the Ground Bridge.

Once he had gotten through the Ground Bridge, he immediately noticed they had weapons trained on him, by the red dots all over his armour. J.A.R.V.I.S scanned their weapons as Jack moved forward towards the large cave that was in front of them.

"Sir, it would seem that the weapons the M.E.C.H agents are using, are equipped with armour piercing rounds." J.A.R.V.I.S said as the scan was complete.

"Thanks J.A.R.V.I.S." Jack said back as he and Optimus came to stop in front of a large clearing.

In the clearing, he saw that Silas was standing in front a large amount of screens, depicting different scenes. One of those were the fight the Autobots had with the Decepticons earlier that day. Next to the screens sat Miko, she was tied to a chair and had her hands bound behind her, with two M.E.C.H agents standing guard around her. As she turned to him, her eyes lit up in hope that he would rescue her.

"Jack!" She shouted before she glared at Silas and smirked. "You're in for it now scarface. Jack is going to tear you into scrap."

"I highly doubt that." Silas replied, turning to her rescuer. "Hello Jack, we meet again at last. Did you miss me?"

"Like a system failure in my armour." Jack shot back, as he lifted his hand about to fire.

"Ah, ah, ah. No can do Jack." Silas said as he held up a remote. "If anything happens to me then Miss Nakadai here would get a shock in her systems from the collar round her neck." He explained, indicating to the collar that was no her neck.

Growling, Jack lowered his hand. "What do you want Silas?" he asked.

Silas simply smirked at them. "Revenge for what you have done to me Jack."

"I would like to see you try. Let's settle this Silas, or are you afraid?" Jack taunted.

Silas growled at them before he turned and ran into one of the many passageways. Once he started running, the M.E.C.H agents started firing at the duo. Lifting his arms up, Jack started to return fire. Flying around the clearing, Jack started to grab onto some of the M.E.C.H agents and started throwing them at their comrades.

While all of this was happening, Anthony, who had run after Jack, attacked the two M.E.C.H agents surrounding Miko, and knocked them out. Once that was done, he started to gnaw at the collar, eating through it easily and freeing Miko in the process.

"Thank you Anthony." Miko thanked as she held onto him and ran off towards her rescuers.

"Sir, it would seem that Anthony has rescued Miss Nakadai and is on her way towards you." J.A.R.V.I.S told as Jack finished firing at the last of the M.E.C.H agents.

"Understood!" he said.

Flying towards her, Jack landed in front and his mask opened, showing his face. Once he was in front of Miko, she hugged him and rested her head on his chest as Anthony landed between them. Many thoughts and emotions ran through him. But the most prominent thought was that she was safe and that no harm was inflicted upon her. Putting a hand under her chin and making Miko look at him, he knew that he grown to love her. It was something that he had mulled over after she had kissed him that night at his workshop.

As they looked in each other's eyes, they started to move closer until their faces were just inches from each other. Closing his eyes, Jack simply leaned forward and captured Miko's lips in his own. Miko seemed to freeze before she started to kiss back and brought her hands to the back of his helmet and pulled him closer. Bringing his hands down to her hips, Jack held onto her, as if she would disappear.

Pulling away for a moment, Jack looked at Miko and asked "Are you okay Miko? They didn't try to hurt you?"

Shaking her head and smiling, she replied. "I'm okay Jack. Thank you for rescuing me though."

Letting a smirk play on his lips, Jack looked at Miko. "Are we still on for Saturday night?"

Miko simply smiled at him and kissed him again. "What do you think?"

"How sweet!" a voice sounded out.

Turning, Jack put his faceplate back on and brought Miko to hide behind him. As he looked around for the voice, the ground started to tremble slightly as loud footsteps started to echo around the cave. As the footsteps got louder and closer, he prepared his weapons and was ready to fire at any moment. Suddenly a round blue light came on from the darkness and moved towards them. As it stepped forward, Jack first saw a large foot step from the shadows and made their way towards them. Jack knew that foot anywhere and knew that he was in for one tough fight as the Iron Monger stepped out of the shadows and towered over them. Once it had stepped out, the chest opened up to show that Silas was piloting it.

"I see you made some improvements to the Iron Monger Silas!" He called out.

"Of course I have Jack!" Silas called back. "Did you really think that would not upgrade my armour after our last bout?"

"Doesn't matter Silas. You're still going down!" Jack told as he fired his missiles at the suit. Turning his towards Miko. "Miko. Run."

The chest closed, protecting Silas as the missiles exploded on it. Moving quickly he flew forward and smashed right into the Iron Monger, toppling the large giant. Just as he was about to rip Silas from the suit, he was thrown back by said person smashing his suits large fist to his side. Landing and rolling on the ground, Jack got up and fired his repulsors as Silas just laughed and walked forwards, the repulsors blast doing nothing to his suit.

"Did you not listen Jack? I have upgraded my suit and that means your weapons have no effect on me!" Silas laughed as he ran forward and kicked Jack away like a football.

Smashing into the cave wall, Jack slowly came out of the hole his body made, only to thrown right out of the cave by Silas as he fired off his own unibeam at him. Crashing through the cave and slamming on to the ground hard, he knew that he had to think of something if weapons couldn't hurt him.

"Power at sixty percent, armour integrity at fifty percent sir." J.A.R.V.I.S told as Iron Monger stepped out of the cave.

"J.A.R.V.I.S scan the suit for any vulnerabilities or weaknesses." Jack said as he struggled to get up.

Slowly getting up, Jack fired a barrage of missiles at Silas before flying forward and punching him at his chest. Pounding away at his chest, Jack did not see the large hand that came from his side and grabbed a hold of him. Caught in Silas' grip, he was slowly being crushed at his waist.

"FLARES!" Jack ordered.

With that a part of his suit opened and let loose a bunch of flares, blinding Silas, causing him to let go of Jack. Running away from the Iron Monger, he hid behind one of the many trucks and slowly formulated a plan on dealing with Silas. If his weapons were ineffective against Silas, he needed something that could deal serious damage. Except the only thing that could be useful was an Energon based weapon, and didn't exactly have something that powerful with him. An EMP would disable Silas' suit, but not for long, he would need to work fast if was to get Silas out of the suit. Peeking around the truck, he saw that the Iron Monger suit was facing away from him. Flying quickly, he got on the suits back and found a couple of exposed wiring.

Seeing his HUD display that it was the targeting system, he pulled at them. "This looks important!" he said with a final tug as the wirings came off.

He was then pulled off by his head and thrown to the ground, his helmet gone. Looking up, he saw that Silas had it in his hand before crushing it and throwing it at him. Opening his chest plate, Silas showed his face, a smirk on his face,

"You've finally out did yourself Jack. You've made your father proud!" he said. As Jack got on one knee.

Silas then started to fire his machine gun at him, causing Jack to open his gauntlet, acting as a shield to hide his face. Silas then started to fire his missiles, only for them to completely miss its mark and destroy some of the trucks.

"It would seem that you've ripped out my targeting systems. No matter, I can still crush you." Silas said as he kicked Jack away.

Landing hard on the ground, Jack felt his world spinning as he did a checklist of what he had left. No weapons, low on power and little time left. He suddenly felt a huge amount of pressure on his chest as Silas pressed his entire weight on him. Crying out in pain, Jack started to see black spots in his vision. Looking to the side, he saw one of the M.E.C.H agents weapons on the floor. Grabbing it he held it up and started firing, causing Silas to close his suits chest and release him. Stepping back away from him as Jack continued to fire away until the magazine was empty.

Seeing his opportunity, Jack regulated whatever power he had left to his unibeam and fired. Silas, who had at that point moved his suits arms away from his chest, could do nothing as the unibeam slammed right into him, making him slide backwards. Once the beam had stopped, Silas saw that Jack was on his knees, head down and out of power. Chuckling he made his way towards the boy who had caused no end of trouble.

Looking up, Jack that Silas was right in front of him, with his hand held towards him, ready to fire his repulsors at him. Just as the he was about to fire, he was thrown to the side from someone. Turning his head to where the shot came from, Jack was left stupefied as he saw Miko holding onto a rifle. From what he saw of the gun, he noticed that it was Energon based and wondered where she could have gotten it.

"You leave my boyfriend alone Silas!" She shouted at him as she started to fire away.

But just as she got going the gun spluttered and stopped firing, before transforming into Anthony. Shocked, she held onto Anthony and ran towards Jack.

"JACK! Are you okay?" she asked as she knelt down over him with Anthony looking at him with his big blue optics.

Smiling, Jack simply laid a hand on her cheek and rubbed it. "I'm fine Miko, Nothing a good rest won't fix." He joked.

"We have to get you out of here. Maybe you can call the Autobots." Miko suggested as she dragged Jack by his arms.

Just as he was about to answer a loud scream of rage was heard as Silas came out of the rubble that he was in. As Silas made his way towards them, Jack pushed Miko behind him, in some vain hope of protecting her from Silas. Just as he was in front of them, a Ground Bridge opened behind them. Coming out of the Bridge was Optimus, Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee, all with their weapons trained on the Iron Monger.

As the minutes passed by with nothing happening, Silas finally made his move by throwing a large truck at the Autobots. While they were distracting he flew off before they could fire a single shot at the M.E.C.H leader. Lying on the ground in pain, Jack knew that this would not be the last time he would deal with Silas, of that he was sure. The last thing that he saw before darkness claiming him was Miko's face calling out to him.

* * *

The sound of crying was the first thing he heard. As he started to wake from his unconscious state, Jack wondered where he was, and what had happened. That's when he remembered Silas and the Autobots and that he was in the Autobot base. Groaning in pain, Jack started to slowly sit up only to be stopped by someone laying a hand on his shoulder. Looking at who it was, Jack was shocked that it was his mother, she seemed to be both worried and angry at the same time. Looking around Jack realised that he was in his workshop, his armour taken off and him in just jeans, a pair of socks and shoes. Looking at himself, he realised why he was without a shirt, and that was because of the amount of bandages surrounding his upper body.

"You have a lot of explaining to do young man." His mother told in her stern voice, making Jack cringe at the reprimand he was surely going to get.

Nodding, Jack slowly got off the bed that he laid on, and made his way to Miko. Miko, who continued to cry, did not notice that Jack had woken up and also did not realise he was standing right in front of her until he put an arm on her shoulder. Looking up she saw that he was smiling at her, smiling back she stopped crying. Once she had stopped crying, Jack took her hands in his and made her stand up. Once she stood up, Miko took her hands away from Jack and brought them to his bandaged chest. As she mover hands around his chest, Jack saw that Miko was slowly starting to cry again.

Putting his hands on her shoulders he asked. "Miko? What's wrong?"

"It's all my fault." She whispered back. "It's all my fault that you're hurt in the first place."

"Oh Miko." Jack said as he hugged her to his chest and rubbed her back. "I don't blame you for me getting hurt. I would have done so even if you weren't kidnapped."

"Why? Why would you risk your like that? All for me?" She asked as she hiccupped.

"Because I love you." Jack answered as he brought a crooked under her chin, making Miko look at him.

"Yo…you do?" she asked. Her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Yes. I do." Jack said before capturing her with a kiss.

Miko started to kiss back, as she weaved her hands through Jack's hair like before. When they stopped to catch some air. "I love you too. My Iron Avenger." Miko said to Jack said before kissing him again.

* * *

 **So what do you guys thinking that June found out about the Autobots earlier than Canon. i hope you don't mind, but with the fight against the Iron Monger, it had to be done. Also yay! Miko and Jack are in a relationship!**

 **Anyway i hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Remember to leave a review. and Have an Awesome day.**

 **P.S.: i would prefer a review to a PM, just because it's easier to track thanks.**


	8. Explanations and Truths

**Hey everyone! First thing is that this is not my best chapter so far, but i hope you like it. this chapter explains the how on Jack and Silas as well as questions that some of you guys have.**

 **Sorry for the short Chapter.**

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Chapter 8

"Alright Jack, explanation now!" June asked as she crossed her arms and began tapping her foot on the ground.

Hoping to appease his mother, Jack, holding Miko's hand, stood near the railing facing the GroundBridge where the Autobots were standing. The first thing he was going to do was introduce the Autobots.

"Well mom, allow me to introduce you to the Autobots." He started. "This is Arcee, my guardian." He stated indicating to said Autobot. "That's Ratchet, the chief medical officer. That's Bulkhead, Miko's guardian. Bumblebee is Raf's guardian. And this is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots." He explained, indicating to every 'bot.

"Right, well what I want to know is why I got a call from Agent Fowler saying that you needed medical attention?" June asked.

Glaring at said agent, who was trying his best to look innocent in all this, before turned back to his mother and sighed. "I had to save Miko, who had been kidnapped by M.E.C.H."

"Why you? Why not just call the police on them." His mother asked.

It was here that Arcee cut in. "It's because Silas asked for him in person. Which also brings about another question. How did he know about you Jack?"

Sighing, Jack let go of Miko's hand and closed his eyes in thought. Opening them after a moment, Jack looked at everyone around the room, all of whom were having the same look in them, that of wonder. Sighing, he started his explanation. "It all started three years ago." At that he looked at his mother, who had widen her eyes and her eyes started to tear up.

"My dad and I were coming home from his workshop after a day of helping him fix his motorcycle, when they came and brought us to their hideout. Once there, we met Silas, ex Special Forces and an old friend of my dad." Jack explained.

"Your father never mentioned anyone called Silas." June said.

"It was during his days as a Commando, he met Silas when they were training together. Before he met you." Jack explained. "Anyway, he wanted my father to join him in his mad quest for world domination. Dad refused and was told that if he would not join then he could at least make the weapons for him with a strange energy source they had found, again he refused. Angry, he had given him an ultimatum, build his weapons, or watch as he killed me. My dad quickly complied with the demand and with my and another captive named Dr Yinsen, helped build the weapons."

"How did you escape then?" Arcee asked.

"By building the first Iron Man." Jack answered before continuing. "One day Silas and his men came in and said that we were going to slow. In hopes of speeding up the process, Silas decided that I was expendable and was about to kill me if it wasn't for my father. He pushed me aside and fought Silas like a man possessed. But it did little as he was finally shot in the head by Silas. After that he said that we had a week to finish building his weapons." Jack stopped at this and looked at his mother, who was now on her knees crying her eyes out.

Going over to her, he knelt down in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder. Jack knew that he would one day have to tell her the full story but that did nothing ease the pain of seeing his mother crying. "Come on mom, dad wouldn't want you to cry for him, now would he?" he asked giving her a small smile.

Rubbing her tears away, June looked back at her son, also giving a small smile. "No he wouldn't. In fact I think he would somehow make joke out of it."

Laughing slightly, Jack replied. "And you would throw a book at him. Either that or tell him that he's sleeping in the garage."

His mother giggled at that as they both remembered when his father joked about something inappropriate and June had thrown the book she had been reading at him and punished him by telling him that he was to sleep in the garage that night. His father woke up with a stiff back and his mother with a vindictive smile the next day.

Turning back to his audience, Jack continued with the story. "After my father died, Yinsen and I had a week to finish the suit. Once that was done, we made our escape, only for Yinsen to die during the escape. After that I managed to have M.E.C.H running away. I took everything that they had owned at brought them back to the workshop, and started to rebuild my armour with better parts." He finished. When he looked up, he noticed that everyone had a look of awe in their expressions, Miko included.

"So how exactly did you afford all of the materials?" Raf asked.

Looking at the young genius, Jack smiled at him. "That, Raf is an interesting story."

"I doubt that anything could be as interesting of badass as you building an armour out of scraps." Miko told, everyone agreeing on that statement.

"And that's where you're wrong Miko. You see while I was on my home, I found out that the area where they held us was also held an untapped gold mine. So I mined what I could and left. I kept everything in the warehouse and started to sell some of things that I didn't need, I used the money to buy more materials before I ran out. After I got my job at KO Burger, I kept small amounts of the money to save in case I needed more materials. Oh and I also took some stuff from the junkyard. Let me tell you, you find the weirdest stuff in there." By the time he had finished, everyone, excluding Optimus had their mouths open in absolute shock. The fact that he had found an untapped gold mine was incredible.

After a few minutes of absolute silence, Raf asked another question. "So what is it made then, and how did you power it up?"

"The original armour was made of an Iron-Magnesium-Copper alloy, while the Mark II was made of Titanium and Steel Plating. The Mark III and Mark IV, were all made of a Gold-Titanium alloy." Jack explained. "As for the power source, remember the energy source they found? Well it just so happens to be Energon, or rather a modified version of it. Synthetic Energon in a way." He finished.

There was absolute silence. Everyone was in awe, here was a _human_ , someone they knew, tell them that he had created a synthetic form of Energon and he didn't even tell them. Bulkhead and Ratchet were the first one to come out of their stupor. Bulkhead was the first one to react, stomping up to Jack he leaned into the railing until all Jack could see in front of him was Bulkhead's entire face.

"YOU'VE HAD A STOCKPILE OF SYNTHETIC ENERGON AND YOU DIDN'T BOTHER TO TELL US!" he shouted at him.

Jack was unfazed by Bulkhead's attempt at intimidating him and simply took a step back. "One, ever heard of a breath mint. You should try one, or maybe a thousand. Two, the reason I didn't say anything was because it wouldn't have worked on you guys. It is extremely modified to power my suit."

"Why you little-." Bulkhead said as he transformed his arm into a wrecking ball mace.

"Try it." Jack challenged as Anthony ran up to him and transformed into his rifle mode.

The tension was so thick in the base that even the 'bots could feel it. Here were two of their own about to go at it, and one of them wasn't even properly protected. A tense moment passed by before Bulkhead smashed where Jack was standing. Said person dodged out of the way and started firing at Bulkhead. The shots were not meant to hurt Bulkhead, just sting. Jack then jumped over the railing and run right under Bulkhead.

Bulkhead, who had turned around and changed his melee weapon to his blaster started to fire away at Jack. Dodging the weapons fire, Jack started to run around, occasionally turning around firing back at Bulkhead. Despite the chaos that was happening, none of the 'bots did anything to stop this. They were actually quite shocked that Bulkhead was actually trying to kill one of their human allies. Jack then turned and prepared to fire at Bulkhead while said Autobot prepared a charged shot.

"JACK! BULKHEAD! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Optimus roared, causing them to both to look at him.

But it was too late as the distraction made Bulkhead lose focus on his weapon, causing it to fire accidently. Due to the long charge, the power of the shot hitting the ground had enough power to cause a mini explosion, sending Jack, who had tried running from the blast, flying through the air and slamming into the rock formation.

* * *

Shock was the only thing that ran through the as they saw Jack hit the ground. "JACK!" Miko and June screamed as they both ran towards her prone boyfriend in Miko's case and son in June's.

When they both got to him and June had said that he was merely unconscious, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Bringing him up the stairs and laying him down on the couch, everyone watched as Miko ran her hands through Jack's hair. Bulkhead tried to come forward and comfort Miko only to be held back Arcee and Bumblebee.

"Guys, let me through. I have to comfort Miko." Bulkhead said as he tried to push his way through.

Bumblebee gave a few whirls and chirps to which Arcee agreed, nodding her head. "Bee's right, you're the reason that she needs comfort. Attacking her mate, who is not only that but also my partner, I have every urge to shoot you right now." She growled out.

"Well if Jack didn't keep secrets from us, he would still be awake!" Bulkhead shot back placing the blame on Jack.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Bulkhead turned to see Optimus staring back at him, then looking at Jack. "While Jack may have held his fair share of secrets. It was your attack on him that caused to be in the position he is in right now." He said as he saw Jack slowly regain consciousness before continuing. "That is why you will be kept in the base for the time being until you think about your actions and apologize for your actions to everyone."

"But Optimus! Who's going to fetch Miko from school?" Bulkhead asked.

"Arcee will be the one fetching both Jack and Miko from school." Optimus answered.

Groaning, Jack opened his eyes and saw that he was laid on the couch with Miko and his mother hovering over him. Sitting up, he noticed that Bulkhead was gone and that the others were looking at him in worry. Standing up slowly, with the help of Miko, Jack made his way to his workshop.

"If you don't mind I'll be in my workshop." Jack told as he and Miko made their way out of the main area.

* * *

Sighing, Jack sat down in front and looked at his somewhat destroyed Mark V. The entire armour would take an entire week to repair. Luckily he had enough Cybertronian plating to repair it, and he also had the Mark VI as the follow up to the Mark V.

The suit was built for heavy combat, armed to the teeth and could take a beating and dish it out. It was slightly more bulky than his previous suit, and that was due to all the extra weapons in it. He had upgraded the repulsors he had to have a Plasma Energy Charge. Numerous miniature air-to-air missiles could be fired from a shoulder pod housed on a detachable backpack. Unfortunately it's still in its prototype phase and isn't at full power. It would seem that it do until he could fully power it up.

Spinning around, he looked at Miko, who had decided to feed some small amounts of Energon to Anthony before moving over to him holding on to said scraplet. Sitting down across from him, she rubbed Anthony's head and looked at him worriedly.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Nothing like getting thrown around twice in one night to feel ok." Jack joked, earning a slap from Miko.

"That's not what I meant you baka!" She exclaimed.

"Ow, woman! You've got quite the hand." Jack said, rubbing his cheek before sighing. "Look, I did not mean to keep the Synthetic Energon from the Autobots. But like I told everyone, it would not work as a substitute for actual Energon."

"Do you think that I care about that? I care because you almost died after your fight with Silas! I care because I was afraid that you and Bulkhead were going to tear each other apart! Don't make me lose you." She said as she was close to tears by the end.

Anthony, seeing that Miko was close to tears, crawled up to Miko's shoulder and started to nuzzle his large head into Miko's cheek. Seeing this, Jack got off his seat and walked up to Miko and hugged her, placing her head and under his chin and rubbed her back slowly.

"I promise to you Miko Nakadai, that I will always be with you and that you will never lose me ever again." Jack promised.

* * *

 **Like i said, not my best work to date. it was mainly to explain how Jack could get everything that he had. Not the best but it had to suffice. I'm sorry if it did not live up to your standard, but i had a hard time thinking of something good and that was what i could get in my head.**

 **As for the fight with Bulkhead, i really do believe that he would do something due to them not always getting Energon and Jack has a Synthetic version of it and he says it would not work for them. The Autobots not helping out was because hey were in shock. simple as that.**

 **Anyway, i would like you guys to really review this chapter so i know what your thoughts are on this. Good? Bad? Horrible? please let me know.**

 **Have an Awesome day!**


	9. Deus Ex Machina

**Once again here is another chapter for you all! Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 9

School was over and every student was exiting the building. As Jack, Miko and Raf all sat at the steps of the school waiting for their guardians, Vince and his gang exited the school. Seeing the three of them, they all made their way to them.

Noticing their presence, Jack stood up to block their path, only to be punched by one of Vince's gang members. Once he was out of the way, they started to pick on Raf, by taking his backpack and throwing it around when he tried to get it back. Miko, always charging into things, grabbed the bag from one of the boys, gave it back to Raf, and proceeded to slap the Vince in the face.

Absolute silence was the only thing that could be heard as everyone that hadn't left all looked at the scene in shock. Touching the stinging red imprint on his face, Vince signalled his friends to restrain Miko's arms as he raised his right arm, about to slap the Japanese girl only for his arm to be caught in mid-swing. Turning his head, Vince saw a very pissed off Jack. Trying to wrench his hand back, he realised he could not as Jack's grip held strong.

"Let go of me Darby!" Vince shouted. Jack didn't say anything as he held onto his arm.

Jack then cocked his right arm and shot it forward, punching Vince under the chin so hard that the boy flew back and landing on the ground. Then looking at the other, he simply brought his hands up and gestured them to bring it. The first person ran at him and tried to punch his face, only for Jack to slam his hand on his chest and sweep his leg under him and pushing him to the ground. Two of the boys tried to gang up on him by coming at him from either side of him.

Moving quickly he grabbed the boy on the right by the arm and swung him at his friend. The boy was caught by his friend, only for both of them to fall on the ground when Jack dropped kick them. He was suddenly caught in a hold from behind by one of Vince's friend. His arms held down in the hold, he was suddenly punched repeatedly in the face and gut by Vince. Thinking quickly despite the pain, he kicked Vince on the chest, then back kicked the one holding him on the knee, causing him to be released. Swinging around Jack punched the guy so hard that he dislocated his jaw.

"JACK LOOK OUT!" he heard Miko and Raf cry out.

Turning around, Jack was suddenly on his knees spitting blood out of his mouth. Looking up, he saw Vince holding a pipe in his hand. As Vince raised the pipe over his head, he was suddenly on his knees, his hands in-between his legs. Getting up slowly, Jack saw that Miko was the one to kick Vince in his family jewels. Moving towards them he looked at Raf and Miko, making sure they were unharmed.

"You guys ok?" he asked. Raf and Miko simply shook their heads.

Hearing honking, they turned their heads to see Bumblebee and Arcee parked in front of them. Noticing that Bulkhead was not there, Jack and Miko made their way to Arcee as Raf got into Bumblebee and they made their way to base.

"Where's Bulkhead, Arcee?" Miko asked as she got behind Jack as they rode to base.

"He's confined to base, reason will be given when we got there." Arcee explained.

* * *

Everyone gathered around the railing as Bulkhead and Jack stood opposite each other. Jack looked at Bulkhead as Miko held his hand, running her thumb across the top of his hand. Bulkhead meanwhile looked quite ashamed by the way he was shuffling his feet and avoiding Jack's gaze.

After they had entered the base, Miko brought Jack to his workshop and made sure that he was ok by bandaged his waist. When she peeled his shirt off, she blushed as she saw his firm and toned body, before focusing and bandaged him. When asked how she knew how to apply bandages, she said that she helped his mother patching him up last night.

Jack had flushed as Miko's fingers traced their way around his skin, sending goosebumps up his spine and making him blush. Once she was done, Jack rewarded his girlfriend with a kiss on the lips before putting his shirt on and walked out of his workshop, holding Miko's hand.

"Look, Jack, I'm sorry about what happened yesterday night. I hope you can forgive me." Bulkhead apologised, looking at Jack.

Jack simply smiled at him. "No apology needed, Bulkhead. I forgive you."

Ratchet suddenly spoke up from where he was, facing the monitors. "I'm detecting a fresh Energon source. From the nation of Greece. A place of great historical and mythological significance."

Bulkhead smiled at that as he looked at Miko. "Ohhh, field trip! Come on Miko."

Looking at Jack, she smiled at him and walked over to Bulkhead. "Don't worry, I'll bring you back a rock."

Seeing Bulkhead transform and drive off into the GroundBridge after Miko got in, Jack simply smiled and made his way to his workshop.

* * *

Going through his analysis, Jack looked at Anthony, who was sleeping at the moment, and sighed. He was trying to increase the output in which Anthony could fire in his rifle mode. Unfortunately he was having a hard time, as to do so, he would have to open him up, and that was something that he would not do, unless Anthony really wanted.

"Hey Anthony, come here." Jack called out, awakening the scraplet.

Blinking its large blue optics, Anthony wobbled his way to Jack, stumbling into said boy's arms as he had lost balance. Jack started to pet Anthony, causing the scraplet to chirp at him in delight before looking at the analysis that Jack had on his screen. Looking down at Anthony, Jack suddenly had an idea.

"Anthony, how would you like to always be around Miko and myself all the time? As well as protect Miko from harm." Jack asked, causing the scraplet to look at him.

The scraplet chirped at him before jumping out of his arms and running in circles on his table, sending papers to fly around all over the place. Laughing, Jack calmed the little scraplet down and started to pick his papers from the floor, before putting them in the drawer. Once that was done, Jack typed in a few commands and showed the screen to Anthony.

What it showed was Anthony transforming into a digital watch that was worn on the wrist, before transforming into a gauntlet, much like his suits own and started firing its own repulsors blasts. Looking at it Anthony started jumping up and down and chirping. Picking him up, Jack brought him to his Mark V armour and showed him to the gauntlet and put the scraplet in front of it. Anthony's optics suddenly scanning the gauntlet, before transforming into it. The only difference that Jack could see was the colouring of it.

Once Anthony transformed back into his robotic form, Jack brought him back to his table and scrounged around before he exclaimed in victory. Showing it to Anthony, Jack held out a digital watch that he had kept for some time in his drawers. Telling Anthony to scan it, he watched as the scraplet did so and transformed into it, before transforming back. Smiling, he picked Anthony back up again.

"Okay Anthony, I want you to transform into the watch first." Jack instructed, watching Anthony do so, before wearing the now black and orange striped watch. "Okay, now I want you to transform into gauntlet form." He instructed again, watching in delight as Anthony slowly transformed into the gauntlet. "Okay Anthony, that's enough for now."

Once Anthony had transformed back into his robot form, Jack fed him some Energon and rubbed his head, before they fell asleep, exhausted.

* * *

"Wake up sleeping beauty." A voice whispered to him.

Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Jack saw that Miko was standing in front of him, petting Anthony on his head. Smiling at her, Jack got off his chair and stretched his stiff body before checking the time. Seeing that it was only an hour and a half since Miko and Bulkhead had left, Jack looked at Miko and kissed her on the forehead.

"Welcome back. Anything interesting happen in Greece?" he asked.

"You bet!" Miko exclaimed. "When we got there, Bulkhead found a fresco that had, from what Bulkhead told, an Energon Harvester. Then some Decepticon that Bulkhead knew, started attack him. Bulkhead just beat the scrap out of him and sent him packing, but not before he totalled the fresco." She finished explaining.

Laughing at her antics, Jack simply shook his head before he asked Miko to sit down. "Alright Miko, I have a gift for you."

"Oh what is it. My own Iron Man armour?" She asked excitedly, bouncing on her seat.

"Calm yourself Miko." Jack said chuckling. "Alright Anthony, transform into your watch mode." He said.

And right before her eyes, she saw the scraplet transform into a digital watch. Picking it up and putting it on her, she simply looked at in awe before squealing and hugging Jack. "Thank you Jack, this is so cool!"

"And that's not even the best part. Alright Anthony, gauntlet mode." He instructed.

And like before, Anthony transformed into the same gauntlet that Jack had. Once it was fully encompassed around Miko's hand, said girl simply stared at it in amazement. Putting his hands on her shoulders, Jack guided her to his target practice and told her to try and shoot the target.

"What you want to do is to aim it at the target, then will it to fire and it will do so." Jack instructed.

Doing as instructed, Miko took careful aim at the target, before firing. Seeing the blast hit the target dead on, she exclaimed in victory before looking at Jack. He simply smiled back at her and much like earlier, kissed her on the forehead. "Good job Miko. Now come on, I'm sure the others are waiting for us."

* * *

"It is indeed an Energon Harvester. An ancient relic built by the ancients, used to remove raw Energon from any source." Optimus explained.

"Greek gods knew Autobots?" Raf asked.

"No Raf." Optimus answered. "The ancients often used the art of the given era to leave messages. This fresco was most likely a signpost indicating a nearby hidden Energon Harvester.

"Optimus, you and the others all have Energon pumping inside you, right?" Jack asked. "Am I right to assume that if used against you…" he finished leaving the statement hanging.

"In Decepticon hands, yes, it could be a deadly weapon." Optimus agreed, answering Jacks statement.

"See! You were a genius to total that painting." Miko congratulated Bulkhead.

"Miko's not wrong." Arcee agreed. "How can the 'cons find the Harvester without the fresco?" she asked.

Raf who had been typing on his laptop answered. "With the internet. If you search for 'Greek Gods' and 'Golden Orb'. This pops up." He said showing them his laptop.

"That the real deal?" Arcee asked, looking at Optimus.

"Contact Agent Fowler." Optimus ordered.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, call up Agent Fowler." Jack told his A.I.

"Very good sir." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

After a few minutes of waiting for Fowler to answer, a voice message answered them instead. "This is Special Agent William Fowler. I am currently on an intensive training retreat, and will be unavailable until Tuesday."

"I hate talking to machines." Ratchet grumbled.

"Seeing as Agent Fowler is unavailable, we have no choice but to confiscate the orb." Optimus declared.

"Whoa there Optimus! Confiscate, as in steal museum property?" Jack cried out.

"That sounds illegal." Raf pointed out.

"I do not wish to break human law, Jack." Optimus explained. "But if the Decepticons learn of the Harvester's location, they will not hesitate to use any means necessary to obtain it. That is why we must act covertly." He implored.

Slapping his forehead, Jack looked at Optimus. "No offence Optimus. But your giant robots. Giant robots and covertly do not go together." Jack explained. "Museums are public and are crawling with guards and security cameras."

"No problem!" Miko cried out. "We're small enough, not only that but we're not a government secret."

"Miko, I'm not sure that's wise." Bulkhead spoke up.

"But it may be our best option, Bulkhead. The more time we debate, gives the Decepticons a higher chance to steal the Harvester." Optimus convinced.

" _Jack, Miko, Raf, I will have a clear view of you."_ Optimus spoke over the 'comms. _"When you have secured the Harvester, I will contact Ratchet for pickup."_

"Remember, since you'll be bypassing all points of entry, you won't have to worry about setting of the alarm. But take extreme caution to avoid any of the guards." Ratchet instructed as he opened the GroundBridge.

"Got it. Oh and J.A.R.V.I.S, hack into the security feed and create a feedback loop for the cameras." Jack said, as he put on his backpack.

"Very well sir." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

Driving the scissor lift through the Bridge, Jack stopped it when he had a clear view of the Optimus, who was blinking his high beams at them to signal that he could see them. Driving up to the large statue, Jack waited for J.A.R.V.I.S to finish his job.

"Sir, hacking complete. You are now invisible to the cameras." J.A.R.V.I.S called over his earpiece.

Nodding, Jack pressed a button, making the lift rise up to the where the hand held the orb. Then lifting Raf above the orb, he and Miko started to roll it towards them. As they continued to do so, they heard a crack of glass and felt a slight shake of the ground. Turning to the entrance, they saw Optimus looking back, holding a missile in his hands. Continuing to look at him, they saw that Optimus was suddenly attacked by a red Decepticon with what looked like an electro-staff.

"It's 'Cons!" Raf said.

"They've got Optimus." Jack said. "Come on, the sooner we get this orb, the sooner the 'bots can get away."

Continuing to roll the orb towards them, they did not notice the battle going on outside, until felt the entire building shake, casing the alarms to go off. By that point, they had just gotten orb in the lift and were making way down.

'Come one. Time to make our exit, boys." Miko said as Jack took the controls and drove through the halls towards their exfiltration point.

As they got closer to the exfiltration point, Miko suddenly got out of the lift and hit the shutter door button, lifting said door. Running through the door she was suddenly caught by the security guard. Watching the guard drag Miko into his office, Jack got out of the lift and sneaked over to the office. Knocking on the door, as soon as the door opened to reveal the guard, Jack punched the guard in the face, knocking him unconscious.

"Once again saving the damsel in distress." Jack joked as he moved aside for Miko to leave the room.

"Don't bet on it, Darby." His girlfriend shot back, a smile on her face.

Closing the door behind him, Jack and Miko made their way to the large shutter door, only for Soundwave to open the door. "It's Soundwave!" Miko shouted out. "Anthony gauntlet mode!"

The watch that she had been wearing before, transformed into the gauntlet. Once it was done, Miko started to fire at Soundwave, who had his robotic tentacles try and swipe and her and Jack while Raf hid behind the lift. Dodging one of the tentacles, Jack hit the centre button on his chest, causing his backpack to open up as plating's started to shift around him.

Much like the Mark IV, it was made for portability. But unlike the Mark IV, it was made out of Cybertronian plating's. It was also more powerful in terms of repulsors as well as holding slightly more weapons. It could also last a lot longer than the Mark IV, due to having same power consumption as the Mark IV, which could last for well over four hours of use. It even had a stealth capability as well as a remote GroundBridge, but it had the disadvantage of using up to a third of his power levels if used for long periods of time.

Once the faceplate came down, Jack started flying towards Soundwave and was about to give a punch when he was grabbed by the leg and slammed to the ground. Hearing a grunt of pain, Jack saw that Miko was knocked on the ground by one of Soundwaves tentacles. Thinking quickly, Jack shot flares at the Decepticon Spy Master, blinding the 'con and releasing Jack in the process. Using the distraction as an opportunity, Jack fired off a few missiles at Soundwave, causing the 'con to fall on the ground.

Landing on his chest, Jack was about to fire his repulsors off, when he was grabbed by the waist by one of Soundwave's tentacles, and slammed on the ground multiple times, before throwing him on the far side of the parking lot. Once it was done with him, the tentacle let go of him. Getting up quickly, Jack saw that Soundwave gotten his hands on the Harvester and was flying off with it. Flying up quickly, Jack proceeded to follow him.

* * *

Landing on the Nemesis, Jack made sure to keep clear of any patrols that made their way through the hallways. Looking up, he noticed a ventilation duct. He flew up in front of it and ripped the grill off of it, before climbing in, noticing that he could stand up in it. Walking through the ventilation system, he noticed that when he looked down one of grills, he noticed a large room filled with stacks of Energon. Smiling, Jack ripped the grill away and flew own behind one of the stacks.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, you there?" He called.

"For you sir always." Came the reply.

"Alright listen, I need you to patch me to the Autobots." Jack instructed.

"You're patched through sir." J.A.R.V.I.S replied after a minute.

"Hello, is anybody there?" Jack asked.

" _Jack, where are you?"_ Miko's voice called out over the 'comms.

"I'm on the Nemesis. And I'm currently in the Energon storage room. I could have a Ground Bridge open up and let you guys take all the Energon you guys can take." Jack explained.

He could hear a lot of cheering coming from everyone at the base before it quieted down, as Optimus as spoke up. _"Very well Jack, we await your GroundBridge."_

"Alright _._ J.A.R.V.I.S fire up the GroundBridge at my location." Jack instructed.

Seeing the swirling vortex appear and the Autobots come through and starting to gather up all the Energon, Jack flew back up into the ventilation shaft and started to look for Soundwave. After a few minutes of looking around, Jack found that he was just above the bridge of the Nemesis. As he continued to spy on the Decepticons, he noticed Soundwave handing over the Energon Harvester to Starscream. Knowing that he could not allow for him to get his hands on it, Jack sent out a shockwave of EMP, disabling every Decepticon in the entire room.

Moving quickly, Jack destroyed the grill and flew at the Harvester and grabbed onto it. Holding onto it, Jack made his way back to the ventilation system and made his way back to where the Autobots were. Once he got there, he saw that the storeroom was almost empty, with Bumblebee holding onto the last two crates and Bulkhead standing near the door.

"Bulkhead!" Jack called out. "Destroy the Harvester and throw it outside!" he shouted as he threw it at the Wrecker.

Catching the Harvester, Bulkhead crushed it before opening the door and throwing it out in the hallway. After a moment, the entire ship rocked from the force of the explosion. "Through the GroundBridge!" Jack shouted out as he flew through said Bridge.

* * *

"Well that was fun." Jack said as he got out of his armour and sat down on the couch.

"With the Energon Harvester destroyed, and a replica brought back to the museum. Along with a large amount of Energon brought with us, it would seem that we have severely crippled the Decepticons." Optimus spoke as he looked at the numerous stacks of Energon around them.

"Yeah! I'd like to see Starscream's face when he realizes that he has no more Energon." Bulkhead cried out in joy.

"Well done Jack, you not only helped us get rid of the Harvester, you also helped us restock our supply of Energon." Arcee congratulated.

Hearing nothing from the teen, she noticed that he was asleep. Smiling, she got Miko's attention and gestured to Jack. Seeing the girl smile, she watched as Miko kissed Jack's forehead and sat down next to him and cuddled with him, before to falling asleep. Noticing something from the corner of her optics, Arcee saw Raf taking a photo of Jack and Miko with his cellphone before going to sleep on the other couch.

* * *

 **And done!**

 **Now to answer your reviews.**

 **Mazamba: The reason Jack kept the gold away from his mom, was that she would ask where he had gotten it from. Even if he were to convert it to cash, he would be asked a lot of questions, such as where he had gotten it from.**

 **As for the reason he kept making suits. Like i wrote in the first chapter, he created more suits in case he ever came across M.E.C.H ever again.**

 **CapMarvel: While Bulkhead could have gotten into more trouble, I wanted him to actually think about what he did and realize that he should not let his anger over secrets lose control like that. As for how close Jack and Miko are going to be. Well read and find out. And the suits? all i'll say is Spoiler.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to leave a review and have an Awesome day.**


	10. The Date!

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the late upload, had difficulty writing this chapter in. So sorry in advance for, what i think is the worst chapter in this story so far.**

 **Oh and this takes place during Speed Metal**

* * *

Chapter 10

"Darby!" a voice called out.

Turning Jack, saw Vince come up to him. Closing his locker, Jack turned back to see Vince was standing right in front of him. Looking at Vince's face up close, the boy still had a few bruises from his confrontation on Wednesday.

"You're going to pay for what you did to me and my boys two days ago." The bully threatened.

"I'd be careful Vince. Do not forget that we're still in school." Jack countered back.

"You're just afraid that your girlfriend isn't here to protect you." Vince said back.

"I'm not afraid of a red headed monkey, who doesn't have the brains to realise that every student and teacher in the hallway is watching you make a fool of yourself." Jack said calmly.

Looking around, Vince then realised that the entire hallway was complete quiet and was watching their exchange. Once he realised this, he slowly backed off away from Jack. Turning back to Jack, he pointed his finger at him.

"You win this round Darby." Vince growled out, before stomping away.

Watching him go, Jack simply shrugged before heading to class.

* * *

Getting on Arcee, Jack put on his helmet while Miko got behind him and put on her own helmet. Once she had gotten on, Jack backpedalled from the parking lane and was about to drive off when Vince called them. "Hey, Cherry Moped."

"This Moped has dual carbs and can go to sixty miles per hour in three point five seconds Vince." Jack said, before driving off.

Driving down the road, Jack eventually had to stop in front of a red light. That was when Arcee decided to speak up. "Uh Jack, a lady's vital stats, are her own business."

Without even turning, Jack knew that Miko was smirking at him. "Not a word Miko."

"What? It's not like I didn't just brag about how fast my bike can go." Miko retorted. "Besides, it's not like Vince is going to ask for a race against you."

Before Jack could answer Miko, a honk caught their attention. Turning they saw Vince pull up to them in his car. "Oi, Dorkby! If you think your little bicycle is fast, how about a race?" he goaded.

Jack glared at Vince before sighing. "Two problems with that Vince. One, I have a passenger. Two, not interested."

Seeing the green light, Jack drove off, not looking back at Vince. Continuing to drive, Miko kept trying to convince Jack to do the race. "Come on Jack." She whined. "You can show him whose boss."

"Miko, don't." Jack argued back. "My dad once said that we should never abuse our abilities for personal gain. _Especially_ horse power. Besides, Vince is just a bully trying to compensate for something he doesn't have."

Jack finished his explanation as he stopped at another red light. Miko, who was laughing at that point, couldn't help but laugh even harder as Vince pulled up next to them again. Jack decided to ignore Vince and just let him speak, not really paying any attention.

"-not only that but it's also ugly. Like your whore of a girlfriend behind you." Jack heard Vince finish as he sped off, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake.

"That's it! The yahoo's going down." Arcee growled out.

Miko, who had stopped laughing after what Vince said agreed. "Seconded."

Jack shook his head and decided to drive up to Vince, who was talking to both Sierra and her friend. Stopping just behind him, Jack called out to him. "Oi Vince! Ready when you are."

Vince who had turned to him, smirked back. "Dirt road by Truckers Ranch. One hour." He stated.

* * *

Parked next to each other while Miko stood at where they agreed to finish, Jack was ready to show Vince that he was not to be messed with. Revving Arcee's engines, Sierra, who decided to act as the person to start the race, held her book above her. Once she brought it down, Jack and Vince both shot forward.

Driving down the road, it seemed that Vince was pulling ahead of them. Knowing that they could easily go faster than Vince, Jack looked down at Arcee's dashboard. "Um Arcee?" he asked.

"It's not just about winning Jack. You want to make him _cry_." Arcee answered as she drove up next to Vince.

Once up next to Vince, Jack gave a wave of his hand before speeding past him and all the way to the finish. Once they reached it, Jack got off Arcee and took off his helmet as Vince finally arrived. Miko who was standing near where Arcee stopped, ran up to Jack and jumped on his back.

"You did it!" Miko exclaimed. "You showed Vince that you're better than him." She finished, kissing him on the cheek as his reward.

"That was just luck. If you want to be in the big leagues, Darby. The Circuit, tomorrow night at eleven pm." Vince explained.

Walking up to Vince, Jack stood in front of him and punched him in the nose. "That's my answer to you Vince." He said before kicking him in the chest, sending Vince to crash on the inside of his car. "That's for calling my girlfriend a whore."

Walking back to Arcee, Jack got on her and was about to put his helmet on but was stopped when Miko gave him a searing kiss on the lips. Once she let go, she shoved Jack his helmet before getting on Arcee and putting on her own helmet. Jack still in a daze, snapped out of it and put on his helmet as Arcee started to make their way to base.

"Optimus and the others must not know about this. Got it?" Arcee told.

"Know about what?" Jack and Miko replied simultaneously.

* * *

Working in his lab with Miko drawing on her sketch pad with Anthony on her shoulder watching, Jack was quietly making reservations to the Japanese restaurant that had just opened up in Jasper. Once that was done, he started to work on the Mark VI.

The Mark VI would be a completely different armour from any of his previous armours. For one, the colouring was different. With a lighter shade of gold as the main colour and a darker shade of red for certain areas, the Mark VI or the Autonomous Prehensile Propulsion Suit, was a marvel of engineering.

It was made of a combination of Cybertronian and an advanced Titanium alloy that can resist powerful attacks, including energy attacks that can destroy normal materials. It is reinforced with silicon infused-steel, enhanced composite armour with ceramic plating and an advanced Titanium alloy with high durability, hardness, compressive and tensile strength.

The suit would be newest model that would help the Autobots to fight the Decepticons. While the other suits were useful against the 'cons, they easily were damaged despite the Mark V being made out of pure Cybertronian. He would later realise that though they were made of pure Cybertronian, they were not as strong due to the size difference and how much Jack had to get rid of. While it would last against the normal drones of the Decepticons, more powerful ones, such as Megatron, it would not last for long.

Looking at Miko, who was taking a nap with Anthony on her lap, also taking a nap. He hoped that he did not screw himself up tomorrow and ruin what he had with Miko.

* * *

Jack stood in front of where Miko lived, walking up to the front door, he knocked. Waiting for the front door to open, Jack made sure everything was in order. His hands were starting to sweat and he kept checking his watch in nervousness. Once the door opened, he breathed a sigh of relief, only for his breath to be taken away when he saw who was in front of him.

It was Miko. But she was wearing a red dress with black high heels. She decided to forego her usual two pigtails and decided to have her hair in a ponytail. She did not have any makeup on her face, and Jack was glad that she did not as it would have detracted from the beauty that she had, in Jack's opinion.

Smiling, Jack handed the flowers that he held, to her. "For you, Miko." He said.

Miko took the flowers gratefully and kissed him on the cheek. "Their beautiful Jack. Thank you."

Smiling, Jack held his arm out to her, to which Miko looped her own through his, as they proceeded to the car that Jack had borrowed from his mother. Opening the door for her, Jack helped her into the car before making his way to the driver's seat. Once he was in, Jack drove off towards their destination.

Once they had arrived and was brought to their table, Jack looked at the menu and was left clueless on what to have. Looking at Miko, Jack saw that she was biting her upper lip in concentration. After a minute, it looked like she had made a decision on what to have, while he still did not know what he wanted. Quickly looking back at the menu, Jack still could not decide on what to have.

Suddenly his menu was taken away by Miko, who had an impish smile on her. "Having trouble deciding on what to have, Jack?" she asked.

"No." Jack answered quickly, before looking down. "Yes."

Miko giggled at him and took his hand in hers. "Don't worry about dinner Jack. The fact that you brought me out is good enough." She said as Jack looked up at her.

Jack smiled back at her. "I though you would like to feel a little closer to home." He said.

Just as Miko was about to reply, the waiter arrived to take their order. "And what would you two like to have this evening?" He asked with a smile.

"I think I'll have the Spicy Ramen with chicken, and iced tea to drink." Miko told, as the waiter took down the order before looking at Jack.

"I'll have what she's having." Jack replied. The waiter nodded, jotting something down on his notepad before taking their menus and leaving.

* * *

Walking out of the restaurant, Jack and Miko got in the car and drove towards their next destination. While on their way there, Anthony decided to spend some time with Miko by just sitting on her lap and letting the girl pat his head and tell him a story, something that she had only started a few days ago. At times, Jack would find her with Anthony regaling him with stories of the 'bots saving the day, other times it was Bulkhead who was doing the storytelling.

When they had arrived, it was a slight cliff overlooking Jasper. While it was not exactly the best place to end the date off, it at least had a nice view of the small town they lived in. As Jack and Miko got out of the car and walked over to the edge of the cliff, they looked at the town and just let their minds wonder, with Anthony on Miko's shoulder.

Turning to Miko, Jack smiled before walking a little ways off, to one of the large boulders around them. Noticing him going somewhere, Miko started to follow. "Jack where are you going."

"Stay right there!" Jack cried back. "And close your eyes. I have a surprise for you."

Miko looked at Jack for moment before doing as he instructed. While waiting, she could hear the sound of metal footsteps, like the sound of when Jack walks around in his suit. She started feeling excited, wondering if she was going to get her own suit. She suddenly felt Jack covering her eyes with his hands and guiding her forward.

"Jack? Where are we going?" she asked.

"Don't worry, it's all part of the surprise." Jack answered.

After walking for a minute, Jack took his hands away to show Miko what he was hiding. It was an Iron Man suit, but with some major differences. For one it had a different colour palate with purple replacing the normal red and silver for the gold. Other differences include less weaponry and more suited medical duties. While the suit was originally made for his mother, Jack knew that she would not always be with them when in need, so he adjusted the height and size to fit Miko.

"I don't get it?" Miko asked.

Chuckling, Jack took a hold of Miko's hand and brought her closer to the suit. "Miko Nakadai! Allow me to introduce you to the Armoured Emergencies and Rescue Suit! The suit is used for when an Autobot or human is in need of medical treatment fast. The suit is designed to provide just that, with state-of-the-art medical scanners and other devices, it is the ideal suit in case of emergencies. And it's yours." Jack explained, finishing off with a smile.

Miko did not say anything for a full minute, before squealing like giddy school girl and started jumping up and down. Anthony who was trying to hold on to, finally flew off Miko's shoulder and towards the suit's helmet. Miko, who had stopped jumping, suddenly hugged Jack.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Miko repeated herself.

Laughing, Jack petted the top of her head and hugged back. "Okay Miko, that's quite enough hugging now. Miko please let go. Can't breathe." Jack wheezed out as Miko's hugged tighter.

Letting go, Miko giggled, before going to the suit. Once she reached the suit, she turned back to Jack. "Can I try it?" she asked.

Jack simply shook his head. "Not tonight."

"Awwww." Miko whined.

Chuckling, Jack transformed the suit into a back pack before taking it with him and made his way to the car. Turning back, Jack spoke to Miko. "Come on. Last thing I want is for your host parents to call the cops on me."

* * *

As they made their way back home, Jack was formulating on a training schedule for Miko, one that would help her learn about her suits abilities. As he was doing this, a car that Jack recognised as Vince's was being chased by a red sports car that was shooting at him. Recognising the car as the vehicle mode of the Decepticon medic, Knock Out, Jack quickly followed in pursuit.

"Whoa! Jack, what are you doing?!" Miko yelled.

"That's Vince and Knock Out is chasing him. We've got to help him." Jack said back. "Anthony Gauntlet Mode." He told as he held out his left arm.

Complying quickly, Anthony got on Jack's arm and transformed. Once done, Jack brought the car door window down and stuck his arm out. Taking aim while driving, Jack fired a few shots at Knock Out, some of them connecting, sending the Decepticon tumbling and Vince to escape.

Pulling the car over while Anthony transformed back into his scraplet mode and joined Miko, Jack took his backpack suit that he had brought and got out of the car and made his way to the upside down Decepticon. As he made his way to Knock Out, who had transformed into his robot mode, he pressed the centre button on his chest and was in his suit by the time he made his way to the Decepticon.

"What are you doing here Knock Out?" Jack asked.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't one of Optimus' human pets." Knock Out mocked. "Starscream will reward me greatly when I bring you to him." He finished as he made a grab for Jack.

Moving out of the way, Jack held his weapons at the ready. "Not going to happen." He said.

Firing repulsor shots at the Decepticon, Jack flew around him, making sure to stay away from his reach. Knock Out, who was trying to grab on to Jack finally had enough and transformed into his vehicle mode and drove off. Stopping his fire, Jack looked on as Knock Out drove away, before landing on the round and made his way back to the car, keeping the suit back into its backpack form.

Getting in the car, Jack started to drive Miko back home. Said girl for some reason kept quiet, something that she was not really known for. "Something on your mind Miko?" he asked.

"Nothing, Jack." Miko replied.

Looking at her from the corner of his eyes, Jack just shrugged before he went back to looking at the road.

* * *

Stopping in front of Miko's house, Jack got out of the car and opened the door for Miko to get out. Walking with her until the steps, Jack looked at Miko once again, before turning back and started to make his way to the car. As he was about to do so though, Miko grabbed on to his forearm, making him stop and turn back. Only to feel Miko's lips on his own.

Despite them being in a relationship, and them sharing their fair share of kisses, the one that Miko was giving to Jack, made his head spin from the amount of passion that was in it. Kissing back, Jack's hands slowly made their way to Miko's back, bringing them closer. Drawing back, Jack looked at Miko and smiled.

"Thank you Jack, for the wonderful evening we had." Miko said before sauntering her way back inside, her hips swaying from side to side.

Shaking his head to get rid of the less than decent thought out of his head, Jack looked back as the door closed and smiled before making his back to the car, whistling all the way home.

* * *

 **Like i said, crappy chapter. But i hope some of you enjoyed that train wreck.**

 **Now to answer questions:**

 **Transfsand: Somewhat. Yes Jack will meet Fury, But not in the way you think.**

 **CapMarvel88: His father was a commando. he picked up a few things from his father. But most of his fighting lessons, comes from fighting the Decepticons.**

 **Again, any questions, just leave them in the reviews. If you have anything you want to say about this chapter, please do.**

 **Goodbye and have an awesome day!**


	11. Attack on Jasper! A Death in the Family

**Hello all. New Day new Chapter! So this is going to be a surprising chapter, so no spoilers. Hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Chapter 11

Two weeks had passed since the date. In that time Jack had Miko practice with the suit as well as learn more about medicine, both Cybertronian and Human. While the training was going well, Jack had also rewarded her with another two dates, for all the hard work she put in, such as bringing her to a movie as well as stargazing.

But while they have been having success, the rest of Team Prime could not say the same. While they had stolen all of the Decepticons store of Energon, they have been making up by hitting several Energon Mines at the same time. Unable to split the team to much, Jack volunteered to help them with the Energon retrieval, only having some success when they manage to stop the Decepticons from escaping with all the Energon.

But while the Decepticons where trying to restock their Energon Supplies, M.E.C.H has been busy. In the past few days, Agent Fowler has been giving reports of M.E.C.H activity moving close to Jasper. Worried for an attack, Jack had placed several sentry droids that could be controlled by J.A.R.V.I.S, dubbing them the Iron Legion.

As Jack was finishing up on the Mark VI, he heard J.A.R.V.I.S speak. "Sir, it would seem that M.E.C.H has attacked Jasper.

Stopping his work, Jack drank a bottle of water and asked. "Numbers?"

"A few dozen sir, not including vehicles." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

"Alright, J.A.R.V.I.S send out the Iron Legion to help deal with them until I arrive. Also have them help with moving the civilians to a safe location." Jack said as he made his way to the others.

* * *

"PRIME! PRIME!" Agent Fowler called.

"Is something wrong Agent Fowler?" Optimus asked as he made his way to the terminal.

"You bet your star spangled shorts there is trouble! It's M.E.C.H, they just attacked one of our bases." Fowler explained. "We were developing a new weapon that we were going to have a field test on when they attacked and stole it. Luckily we added a tracking device to it in case this ever happened."

"Very well Agent Fowler, we will investigate the whereabouts to your weapon." Optimus told.

"Hold on Prime, I just got a call that-." Fowler was about to continue when Jack interrupted.

"M.E.C.H is attacking Jasper." He said as he got into his Mark V. "You're staying here, Miko." He added, much to her dismay.

"Autobots! Prepare to-." Optimus said, only to be interrupted by Jack.

"Optimus, you can't. I'll deal with M.E.C.H." Jack said as J.A.R.V.I.S fired up the GroundBridge.

"Jack's right, the people of Jasper cannot know of your existence. Best to sit this one out Prime." Fowler agreed.

Miko who was not happy about being left out, held onto Jack's arm. Turning to look at her, Jack brought his faceplate so she could see his face. "You come back alright, and go kick M.E.C.H's ass." She finished this with a kiss.

Smiling Jack nodded before bringing the faceplate down and flew through the GroundBridge.

* * *

When he made it through the GroundBridge, the first thing he saw was the chaos around him as people ran for their lives from the soldiers attacking the town. The police were trying to help where they can by blocking the road with their cars and taking cover behind them, while the Iron Legion helped by providing covering fire. Finding the closest M.E.C.H soldier, Jack blasted him with a repulsor blast, and then proceeded to blast through the others.

Once he dealt with the group, Jack turned to find a tank rolling up the driveway. Stopping a fair distance away, the tank fired a shot. Stepping aside from the shell, missing him and blowing up a truck, Jack brought his arm up and fired off on of his anti-tank missiles. Seeing the missile get stuck in the barrel of the tank, Jack turned and walked away to find more M.E.C.H soldiers, the tank blowing up behind him.

Seeing them aim their guns at him, Jack simply stood there and let them fire their bullets at him. Jack smiled at this. "Guys come on, stop, we've got to talk this through." He said this before fire concussion missile at them, knocking them to the ground. "Good talk."

"No it wasn't." one of the M.E.C.H soldiers said.

Hearing a loud thud behind him and feeling the ground shake, Jack turned around to find a large grey suit of armour, and was about the size of Megatron. It was mostly grey with a few parts being red and a helmet with a blue visor. "You're big." He stated.

"So you're the one Silas wants. You don't look like much." The person inside said, before kicking Jack away like a football.

Smashing through a car and slamming through a glass window, Jack knew he could not underestimate the person. Shaking his head, Jack shot forward and slammed into the giant robot. Noticing that nothing was happening, Jack was shocked, and tried to push the giant robot again. He was suddenly grabbed by his leg and was then slammed on the ground repeatedly until the giant robot through him into a tank truck, causing a large explosion.

"Power levels?" Jack groaned.

"Power is at eighty-eighty percent." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

Getting up slowly, Jack walked out of the burning truck and aimed at the large robot. Shooting forward, Jack fired his shoulder mounter missiles and proceeded to fly in circles around the large robot, firing repulsors at the same time.

The missiles that hit the giant robot made it stagger back, and with the constant repulsor shots fired from Jack, he could not get a lock on. Getting frustrated, he picked up a large truck and flung it at the police, who had stayed to watch the fight.

Seeing this, Jack shot off quickly towards the flying truck and caught it, throwing it back at the giant robot. Said giant robot, fired off its own repulsor blast, destroying the truck. Once it did so, it started running towards him, with Jack responding by shooting towards him. Just as he was about to be hit by the robot's giant fist, Jack ducked low and slammed into the robot's right leg, making it fall forward from the loss of balance.

Landing on the back, Jack ripped the whole thing off, exposing the pilot inside. "Hi there." He said, pulling the guy out of the robot and throwing him to the ground.

Hearing guns cocking, Jack turned around to see even more M.E.C.H soldiers aiming their weapons at him. Rolling his eyes, Jack took aim at the vehicles around the soldier and fired at them, causing them to explode at the soldiers to run. Once that was done, Jack took off, back to base.

* * *

While flying back to base, Jack was thinking about what M.E.C.H was up to. While Silas was many things, one thing he was not was an idiot. He would not attack someone or something unless he had a reason too. Maybe he wanted to test his new suit against him, if so why not plot it himself. And speaking of the giant robot, it almost seemed too easy, unless it was a distraction, if so for what?

"Phone call from your mother." J.A.R.V.I.S told.

"Tell her I'm not here. I'm jogging." Jack said, hoping to not hear his mother scold him for his actions.

"Already answered sir." J.A.R.V.I.S said.

" _Jack?"_ Damn it J.A.R.V.I.S, he though before answering.

"Uh hi mum, how are you?" Jack asked.

" _I hope you're okay after your fight with that giant robot Jack? Anyway I just returned home and there's a package for you."_ His mom explained.

"A package? From who?" Jack asked as he stopped flying towards the base.

" _Don't know. It was here when I got home."_ His mom told.

Eyes widening, Jack turned around and flew back to Jasper, back to his house. "Mom, get out of the house, NOW!" he shouted.

" _Jack what's wron-."_ June did not finish her sentence as the sound of an explosion was heard on the other end, and then static.

"MOM!?" Jack screamed. "J.A.R.V.I.S, reroute all power into the thrusters, NOW!" he ordered.

"Already done sir." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

* * *

Flying over the housing area of Jasper, Jack saw a tower of black smoke and fire rising from where he lived. He could see the firemen trying to put the fire out and the police trying to keep the people from getting to near the house. Flying down, Jack landed in front of his house and ran into the burning building.

"MOM!?" he called out.

Hearing coughing, Jack turned and found where it was coming from. Going towards it and finding a large slab of concrete, Jack lifted it and tossed it aside to find his mother. Kneeling down, Jack lifted his faceplate and spoke. "You ok mom?"

"Jack, I'm trapped under all this, and the house is on fire, I doubt I'm okay." His mother joked.

Smiling, Jack tossed aside the rest of the rubble covering his mother and slowly lifter her up, carrying her bridal style. "Let's get you out of here." He said before closing his faceplate and walking out of his burning home.

"Jack, I won't make it." June said slowly.

"Sir, her heartbeat is dropping rapidly. I'm afraid she does not have much time left." J.A.R.V.I.S explained quietly.

"You're going to be okay, we'll get you to the hospital." Jack answered back.

Exiting out of the house, Jack knelt down and put her down on the ground until the ambulance could get here. June looked at Jack and smiled at him, tears falling from her face. "Let me look at your face one last time, Jack."

Instead of simply lifting his faceplate, Jack took his entire helmet off and dropped it next to him. Looking at his mother, Jack could not help but tear up as his mother placed a hand on his cheek and begun to rub it. "Your father would be so proud of what you have become Jack. I know I have." She spoke softly.

"Don't say that, you're going to be okay, you'll see." Jack choked out.

She simply smiled back at him. "I love you Jack. So very, very much." And with that she closed her eyes as her hand dropped from his face and dropped to the ground.

* * *

Blasting everything in the room, Jack vented out as much anger as he could with his repulsors. But every time he thought he had calmed down, his mother dying in his arms would always come back in his head, and he would do something else. Looking at his cases of armours, Jack felt angry that for all his power to build suits to protect himself, he could not protect his own mother. And now she was dead, all because of him.

Screaming in rage, Jack activated his unibeam and blasted every suit until they were all in pieces. Panting heavily, Jack took off his helmet and threw it to the floor. He then started ripping every piece of the Mark V off of him until there was nothing left.

Sitting on the floor, Jack just lost himself in his thoughts, not knowing what to do. He wondered what his father would say if he knew what had happened. Would he be angry at him for not saving his mother? Would he blame him that she was dead? Who knows? Maybe he was never made to be a hero. Maybe Miko and his mom were wrong about who he was. He was just a failure.

As he continued to wallow in his self-pity, he did not notice Miko and Anthony, as well as the other Autobots outside his workshop. Feeling something on his shoulder, Jack turned to see Anthony looking at him, his large blue optics looking at him sadly, almost as if he understood his pain. Looking up, he saw Miko, red faced with tear stains down her face. She knelt down next to him and held her hand in his.

"Jack, I'm so sorry about your mother." Miko softly spoke.

"It's not your fault Miko. It's Silas and M.E.C.H's fault." Jack answered back hoarsely. "But it's also mine."

Miko looked at him, wondering why he would say that. "Why?"

"If I never built the suits, then M.E.C.H would not have attacked the town. They would not have placed a bomb at my house, killing my mother." He answered. "I can't do this Miko. I can't-I don't know how I can I go on without her."

"Then don't. Take her with you." Miko said as Jack looked at her. "You are a good man Jack Darby. You don't have to do this alone Jack, you don't have to bear the world's problems on your shoulders. I'm here with you. We're here with you." She finished as the Autobots and Raf all stood in front of Jack.

* * *

As the casket lowered to the ground, Jack looked on unblinking. The rain poured down on the people gathered. Colleagues, friends, patients that she treated, they all come to her funeral. Even the Autobots, in their Vehicle mode was there, parked just far enough to see the casket lowered to the ground. Raf, who was with his family attended, as well as Miko, who stood next to Jack, holding his hand throughout the whole ceremony.

"We stand here today, to honour the life of one June Katherine Darby, as she was taken from us not so long ago." The pastor spoke. "While she is no longer with us, she now lives with God and in our hearts."

As everyone left after the ceremony was complete, Jack stayed, looking at the gravestone that indicated his mother. Raf and his family had left while Miko stayed right next to Jack the whole time. The Autobots had also left due to Agent Fowler wanting to speak with Optimus about something.

"You don't have to stay you know." Jack said, not turning his head away.

"I'm not leaving you Jack." Miko answered back.

* * *

 **A little depressing isn't it? or not, who knows? Tell me if you thought that June was going to die in the story, if not i hope you guys were surprised by this. Anyway time to answer your questions!**

 **Also the first chapter for Transformers Prime Ghost Rider is out. read and leave a review for me would you?**

 **CapMarvel88: No, Jack will not make a suit for Raf. simply because he has no need for one, and also he's to young. I'm not sure about seeing other heroes.**

 **Anyway i hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you have any questions, leave them in the reviews and also review the chapter to tell me your thoughts.**

 **Also have any of you noticed that the review i have do not reflect how many of them are on the story. If you were to count how many there are on this story and the Ghost Rider one, you would see i'm missing a few. WHY is that?**

 **Anyway have an awesome day!**


	12. Predatory

**WHAT UP! Sorry for the long wait, but i just started back in school and i had to put that firs before this, so sorry. Anyways on with the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 12

It has been a week since his mother's death and funeral and Jack has coped the best he could. Living within the Autobots was a unique experience, in that he could see what the 'bots get up to when him, Miko and Raf were around the base. Most of the time they would patrol Jasper, in case of an attack, other times they would simply be out hunting for Energon. While Jack kept to himself in his restored lab, he would sometimes leave it to watch the sunset, or have J.A.R.V.I.S GroundBridge him to his mother's grave.

While the Autobots understood what Jack was going through, they also worried that he had not spoken to anyone the whole week. While he said things to J.A.R.V.I.S, they were more orders than actual conversation. Arcee and Miko had tried to speak to him several times in the week, all with unsuccessful results. Even Anthony could not bring him out of his silence.

Not only were they worried about Jack, they were also worried about when Agent Fowler would take him away from them, as is the law concerning minors, and Jack was still underage. While Jack seemed unconcerned about when the government would take him away, Miko was getting more and more nervous, whenever she wasn't at school, she would either be with Jack in her suit training, or playing with Anthony, keeping Jack company.

It was after school and Miko and Raf were in the base playing a racing game, while Jack was in his lab. He was currently injecting himself with several computer chips in his forearms.

"39…40…41…42" J.A.R.V.I.S said after each shot. "The last of the chips have been injected sir."

"Right. J.A.R.V.I.S, let's see if the propulsion system works." Jack said as he made his way to the centre of the room.

Looking at the nearby gauntlet, Jack thrust his left arm forward, palm open and facing upwards. When nothing happened, Jack tried again, only for the same results. Looking at his forearm, he smacked it, the sound of electricity fizzled in his ears.

Thrusting his arm out again, the gauntlet shook and then flew towards him, wrapping around his hand and forearm. The shoulder and upper arm came next. Smiling, Jack turned to the other gauntlet and did the same thing, causing the other gauntlet to fly towards him and wrap around his forearm.

"Alright J.A.R.V.I.S, send the rest." Jack instructed.

Watching as the other parts flew around the room, Jack lifted his right leg as the boot and leg parts wrapped around him. He quickly raised his other leg as the other set flew to him. Once it was wrapped around him, the back part of the armour slammed into him, making him fall forward. It was his use of his repulsors that allowed him to stop himself from face-planting on the floor. Getting his footing back, Jack saw and felt the codpiece slam into him, then the front chest piece attached to him. The rest of the right arm then attached to him, as well as the helmet and abdomen. The only thing missing was the faceplate, which at that moment slammed on to the table and falling to the floor.

The faceplate hovered upwards and flew towards him, unfortunately it had hit the corner of the table and was now upside down and facing outwards. Activating his right hand and leg repulsors, Jack flipped sideway, so that he was upside down to allow the faceplate to attach to him, then thrust his right arm forward and used the momentum to slam his fist on the ground, in a pose dubbed the superhero landing by Miko.

Standing up, Jack checked everything with his HUD to make sure that everything was working. While the suit was still a prototype, Jack made sure to make it combat ready should anything happen.

"Sir, Agent Fowler is requesting your presence. It would seem that he had brought General Bryce and a squad of armed men as well." J.A.R.V.I.S spoke.

Nodding, Jack made his way to the main area where, the Autobots were all assembled. Flying up to where he knew Miko and Raf were, Jack landed on the floor and looked at the people around him. Miko and Raf were behind him, while Fowler was standing to the side. Next to him was a man with brown greying hair and moustache in uniform, while twelve men all stood, their hands on their weapons.

Turning his attention to the Autobots, Jack saw that Bulkhead and Bumblebee, were both tense, while Arcee was standing within arm's reach of Jack, should anything happen. Ratchet was standing next to his consoles as usual, but his hands were near his tools, while Optimus stood next to him, his face and optics betraying nothing, but he too looked ready to intervene.

Turning back to Fowler and Bryce, Jack asked. "What do you want, Fowler?" Speaking to someone other than J.A.R.V.I.S for the first time during the whole week.

Gulping, Fowler stepped forward. "Well Jack, the boys up in the Pentagon are requesting that you hand over the Iron Man suits that you built and to come with them." He explained, all the while trying not to look at Jack in the faceplate to long, his eyes darting away.

"No." was the answer Jack gave.

At this General Bryce stepped forward. "Son please, we are asking you nicely to hand them over and to come quietly."

Laughing at him, Jack lifted his faceplate and looked at the general in the face. "Well you can't have them. The suit and I are one, besides I know what you're going to do with them. So my answer is still no."

"Jack please. I know you're still mourning for your mother, but please don't do something rash." Fowler pleaded.

"I assure you Mr Darby, I have no idea what you are talking about." Bryce said.

Frowning, Jack called out. "J.A.R.V.I.S, pull out Phase two."

"Yes sir." J.A.R.V.I.S answered, and a moment later, schematics were shown on every screen.

"Weapons, using Cybertronian technology. Not only that, you're going to build your own army of Iron Men using said weapons." Jack explained, much to the shock of everyone, including Fowler, who seemed to have been kept in the dark.

Turning back to the general, Jack raised an eyebrow. "What I want to know is why you guys think it's such a good idea to build Weapons of Mass Destruction with Cybertronian tech?"

Sighing, General Bryce stared at Jack before pointing to the Autobots. "Because of them."

"US!?" said Autobots, baring Optimus shouted in alarm.

"Two years ago we had visitors, who brought a war that left their home a desolate wasteland here. And now with their return and the resurgence of M.E.C.H, we find ourselves hilariously outmatched and outgunned, so we had to think of something." General Bryce explained.

"A nuclear deterrent. Because that always works." Jack mocked. "My answer is still no."

The General sighed and signalled his men, who held their weapons up and aimed them at Jack. The other Autobots held their weapons out and aimed them at the soldiers, while Miko donned her Rescue Armour and Raf hid behind the couch.

Jack simply looked at Bryce. "You sure you want to go down this road Bryce?" he asked, his faceplate slamming shut.

A tense silence fell around the base as everyone prepared to fight. Suddenly J.A.R.V.I.S spoke up, startling the soldiers. "Sir, there seems to be an Energon signal coming from the Dixie National Forest in Utah."

Nodding, Jack turned away from the soldier and faced the Autobots. "J.A.R.V.I.S, open the GroundBridge to the coordinates." He ordered as he looked at Arcee. "Shall we?" he asked.

Smiling, she picked up the Energon scanner and walked towards the GroundBridge. Turning back to Bryce, he looked at him. "I suggest you shut down the project, before I shut you down myself." He said as he flew through the GroundBridge, Arcee following right behind him.

* * *

Landing on the ground, Jack scanned the area, as Arcee looked at the scanner and followed where the signal was coming from. As they made their way through the dense forest in silence, Jack wondered what General Bryce was going to do, now that he and everyone in the base knew that the government was making weapons. While he hoped that Bryce would listen to reason and not go through with the project, he doubted that would be the case.

"You okay Jack?" Arcee suddenly spoke up.

"I'm fine Arcee, just a lot on my mind." Jack answered as they continued to make their way to where the signal was coming from.

"Does this have to do with the fact that the government has decided to create weapons to fight us? Or is it the fact that they want your armour?" She asked.

"Both." Jack answered. "I sure hope Bryce doesn't do something stupid."

Arcee was about to answer when the scanned beeped. Looking at their surroundings, Arcee looked at the scanner again, before going to the right and towards a large crash site. "A crash site." She stated.

"Think whoever survived it?" Jack asked.

"Let check." Arcee answered back.

As they made their way to the ship, they made sure to keep a look out in case it was a trap, when they came to a large ramp, Jack activated his flashlight, illuminating the dark ship. Arcee activated her blaster, while Jack prepared his repulsors, as they made their way through the ship.

"Recognise anything?" Jack asked.

"It's a transport ship, though there have been changes." Arcee stated.

The lights suddenly turned on and illuminated the area, and what they saw made them blanch. Skulls of various species floated in tanks with the Cybertronian language written at the bottom of the tank. They all lined the sides of the ship as if they were some sort of trophy to be displayed.

Arcee seemed to stagger at the sight, her optics wide and her face etched in fear. Worried, Jack looked around in case they were attacked. "Arcee? Arcee!? ARCEE!?" he shouted.

That seemed to have snapped her out of whatever happened. Scanning the area one last time and finding nothing, Jack looked at Arcee in concern. "Arcee, are you okay?" he asked.

"I know who this ship belongs to." She whispered out.

"Okay then, well do you think this person survived the crash?" he asked again.

Arcee growled and narrowed her optics. "Let's hope not." She said as she pressed her finger to her comm link. "Arcee to base, do you copy? Base, can you hear me? Damn, comms must be jammed."

"I'll see if I can find what's causing the jam, while you watch my back." Jack said as he continued towards the cockpit of the ship.

Making his way toward the ship, Jack wondered who this ship belonged to and why Arcee seemed so terrified. It could be that the skulls remind her of the war back on Cybertron, or it could be that she remembers someone who used to collect trophies during the war. Hopefully it was the former and not the latter, he hoped to not meet someone who could do that to him.

Opening the door, Jack found the cockpit of the ship and begun to go through the data and ship analysis, hoping to find the jammer. Finding nothing, Jack looked at the schematics of the ship and found the jammer to be located at the top of the ship, while also learning that the ship belonged to a Decepticon. Nodding to himself, he quickly left the cockpit and made his way out of the ship.

On his way out, Jack noticed that Arcee seemed to have left the ship, perhaps to scout ahead? Exiting the ship, he quickly flew up to the top of the ship and found the dish that was giving off the signal. Firing off his repulsors, Jack destroyed the jammer and flew down to the ground.

"Jack to Arcee, can you hear me?" All Jack got was static. Sighing, Jack tried contacting base. "Jack to base, can you hear me?" he asked, only to get the same results.

Frustrated, Jack scanned the entire area, hoping to find a trace of Arcee. Finding tire tracks leading into the forest, Jack followed the trail for about ten minutes and found the Autobot stuck to a Cliffside by what looked like webbing. Just in front her, a female Cybertronian with six appendages attached to her back. While Arcee was mainly blue with pink highlights, this 'con was black with purple highlights.

Not wasting time, Jack flew towards Arcee, firing his repulsors at the unknown Cybertronian getting her attention. Dodging a shot of webbing shot from the 'con, Jack fired a few more powerful shots at the Decepticon, sending her crashing to the ground. Quickly while she was down, Jack shot towards Arcee and tried to pry the webbing off of her. When that failed, he used his repulsor to fire a beam and started to cut through the webbing, freeing Arcee from her trap.

"Who's the Decepticon?" Jack asked as he and Arcee saw the Decepticon get up.

"Airachnid." Arcee growled out. "A former Decepticon that used to assassinate her targets, as well as torture them. Now she roams the galaxy hunting for 'endangered' species, and collects them." She answered.

"Good to know." Jack said.

As Airachnid stood up, she looked at her two new adversaries and snarled at them before spinning at started to drill underground. Chasing after her, Jack and Arcee looked down the hole, only to find darkness. Arcee screamed in rage as she saw her old enemy escape. Sighing, Jack looked at the hole in the ground again, before he looked at the direction where the crashed ship was and quickly flew there.

"Jack! Where are you going!?" Arcee called out.

"Airachnid's ship! We must get rid of it!" Jack answered back as they came to where the ship was.

Flying forward towards where the engines were leaking Energon, he quickly fired a blast from his repulsors, causing the Energon to ignite and trail upwards into the engines. A moment later, the entire ship exploded, sending Jack to crash into the ground from the shockwave of the explosion.

Getting up, Jack watched as the flames of the ship continued to burn. Hearing Arcee transform behind him, Jack continued to look at the flaming wreckage. Now that the ship was destroyed, he hoped that communications were up again and decided to test it.

"J.A.R.V.I.S?" Jack called.

"Yes sir?" J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

"A GroundBridge, please." Jack asked.

* * *

Jack continued to look at the schematics of the Phase two weapons. While the Pentagon wanted to have his armour and build their own little army, Jack knew that he could not let them get their hands on them. While he could not blame the US Government from wanting to have a fighting chance in the war, the fact that they were trying to build WMD's was disconcerting. He ran the simulation, should they use a single one of them, and the results would be catastrophic. While a normal nuke could wipe an entire city, a nuke with the made from Energon and Cybertronian tech could destroy TWO states, what with its higher explosive energy.

Luckily, when he checked, he noted that none of the WMD's were in production and that they were simply an idea. Thinking about it some more, Jack decided to help them in a way. He just hoped that Optimus would understand his decision.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, get me General Bryce." Jack said.

* * *

 **Sorry the chapter is shorter than average, but it was difficult to write this. Anyway i hope you like this chapter.**

 **Now to answer some reviews:**

 **CapMarvel: No.**

 **Again sorry for the short chapter. Remember to ask what you wish in the reviews and also please review this so i know what you think of this.**

 **Have an Awesome Day**


	13. Sick Mind

**Sorry for the long wait, but i'm back. Nothing else to say but hope that you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 13

It had been a week since the Airachnid debacle, and a week since General Bryce had come into the base asking for Jack to hand over his armours. In that time since then, Jack had struck an agreement with the Pentagon and General Bryce, in which he would continue to be with the Autobots, only if he because he knew too much and that he could of real help to the Autobots. But not before asking to be paid for it, to which they agreed to do so.

They had also had to deal with the Decepticons getting more Energon, and with the recent battle against them, Bumblebee had gotten seriously injured and has been stuck under Ratchet's care since then. Also in that time, Jack and Miko had been continued to go out on one more date, while also training.

* * *

"Optimus!" Ratchet called out.

"What is it old friend?" Optimus inquired as he moved closer to where Ratchet was working.

"You will not believe it, but I seemed to have found the Decepticon warship!" Ratchet explained, showing where the ship was on the world map.

"How did you penetrate the Decepticon cloaking field?" Optimus asked.

"I didn't." Ratchet said. "I stumbled upon it when I was going through a few different frequencies."

"It could be that they are having an electromagnetic breach, caused by the solar flare a few days ago." Jack said as he and Miko walked in, after training.

"With Megatron dead, and the element of surprise…." Arcee said.

"We could deal some serious damage." Bulkhead finished as he smashed his fists together.

Suddenly a beeping sound came from the screen as it showed an image of a ship not far from the Decepticon warship. "Sir it would seem that an Autobot emergency beacon is also on the same frequency." J.A.R.V.I.S said.

"The Decepticons can wait. There may be Autobots in need." Optimus said. "Ratchet, bring your medical kit."

"J.A.R.V.I.S open the GroundBridge to the Autobot ship." Jack instructed, before turning to Miko. "Go with them Miko, help Ratchet and listen to whatever Optimus says. Understood?" he asked.

"Don't you worry your little iron head Jack, I'll be fine." Miko assured Jack as she kissed him and got into her Rescue armour.

Watching the GroundBridge close behind them, Jack went back to his workshop.

* * *

Spinning in his chair as Anthony gnawed on a spare metal plating, Jack was absolutely bored. He had finished recalibrating his repulsors, checked and rechecked the calculations of his next suit and even finished the design on his tenth suit. Sighing, Jack looked at Anthony and smiled as the scraplet continued to gnaw at the plating.

"Sir, Ms Nakadai and the others have returned. It seems that Optimus Prime has been infected." J.A.R.V.I.S suddenly spoke.

Sitting up in alarm, Jack shot out of his chair and sped through the hallways until he got to the main area. Moving to the medical area, the first thing Jack saw when he got there was Optimus lying on the large berth. Climbing the ladder to get a better view, Jack saw Ratchet scanning Optimus, while the other Autobots stood a little ways off. Optimus, who was looking up at the ceiling, had seemed to start to rust, his optics blinking.

"What's the diagnostics, Ratchet?" he asked as he made it to the top.

"It is as I feared." Ratchet started. "Optimus had been infected with Cybonic Plague."

"And what exactly is that?" Miko asked, making her way over to Jack.

It was Arcee who answered. "Only the worst thing to hit the Autobots since the death of Zeta Prime. It was used by the Decepticons to wipe out whole squads, or sometimes an entire ship of Autobots."

"Arcee is correct. Not only that but it was created by Megatron himself." Ratchet said.

Jack narrowed his eyes at that piece of information. If there was anything Megatron seemed not to be, it was being an idiot. If he went so far as to create a plague, he would have had to create a cure in case his own forces, or himself were infected. Unfortunately the Decepticon Leader was dead, but perhaps the Decepticon warship had the information needed.

"Well don't you guys have a cure for it?" Raf asked worriedly, as he looked at Optimus, then at Bumblebee.

Ratchet was about to answer when Jack spoke. "I doubt it Raf. If they did, don't you think Ratchet would have already done so already?" Jack said as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

Hearing a rasping voice, everyone turned to see Optimus turn to look at them. "No cure."

"Rest easy and save your strength Optimus." Ratchet said softly.

"Well just because we don't have it, no one said that the Decepticons don't." Jack pointed out. "We still have their current location, so why don't we extract the information from the Decepticon database?"

"What are we waiting for? Bumblebee, come on." Arcee said as she turned around to the GroundBridge only to be stopped by Ratchet.

"Bumblebee is still recovering from his injuries Arcee." He stated.

"Ratchet is right, I'll come with you." Jack said. "Besides, Bulkhead isn't exactly known for stealth." He said, taking a jab at Bulkhead's lack of subtlety. "J.A.R.V.I.S, open the GroundBridge to the Decepticon warship."

"Jack, please hurry." Ratchet said.

* * *

Going through the GroundBridge and arriving into the Decepticon warship, Arcee and Jack, who was in his armour, made their way through the hallways quietly, avoiding the patrols until they arrived to the medical wing of the ship.

While Arcee got on the computer and searched for the cure, Jack kept an eye out for any Decepticons. While keeping an eye out, Jack found a door adjacent to the terminal Arcee was working on and found something that shocked him.

Megatron alive and hooked up to life support.

Getting out of his shock, Jack called for Arcee. "Arcee! You might want to take a look at what I found."

"What is it?" she ground out as she made her way to Jack.

Standing next to him, Jack opened the door to allow Arcee to see Megatron. Arcee armed herself and aimed her weapon at Megatron as she made her way to the prone Decepticon.

" _What? What is it? What's going on?"_ Ratchet cried over the radio, wondering what was going on.

"It's Megatron." Jack told. "He alive."

" _But that's not possible! How could he have survived the explosion on the SpaceBridge?!"_ Ratchet asked.

"Don't know. Don't care. Time to finish this." Arcee said as she powered up her blaster.

"WAIT!" Jack and Ratchet shouted out, stopping Arcee.

"One good reason." Arcee asked, not taking her optics away from Megatron.

" _Does he still have brain waves?"_ Ratchet asked.

Moving to the terminal next to the berth, Jack saw Megatron's vitals and saw that his mind was still quite active. Turning his head to Arcee, Jack nodded to her.

"Very. His sick mind still at work." Arcee said.

" _Good."_ Ratchet said. _"If a cure exists, then the only way to get it is to enter Megatron's mind."_

Caught off guard, Jack and Arcee looked at each other, before looking at Megatron. Wondering how that was possible, Jack tried to remember if that was possible from his research into the Autobot database. In a flash, he remembered reading that the only way to enter someone's mind was to use a cortical psychic patch. Created by Decepticons, banned by the Autobots.

" _-WILL NOT ALLOW MEGATRON TO OUTLIVE OPTIMUS!"_ Ratchet's screaming over the radio brought Jack out of his thoughts.

"That's all well and good Ratchet, but have you ever performed the cortical psychic patch?" Jack asked.

" _No."_ Ratchet replied flatly. _"But I have studied the theory extensively. Created by Decepticons, banned by the Autobots."_ Ratchet said, voicing Jacks thoughts.

"Ratchet, I would lay my life for Optimus, anytime, anywhere. But a mind body split…" Arcee said with uncertainty.

"Then allow me. I studied the theory as well and is the only one besides Ratchet that can get in and out safely. Besides I need you to keep an eye out." Jack explained.

"Is your suit even compatible with Cybertronian tech, Jack?" Arcee asked.

"Yes." Jack answered.

Arcee looked at Jack, searching for any sign of hesitation or fear from behind his helmet. After a few moments, she nodded her head. Placing her finger to comms, she spoke to Ratchet.

"Alright Ratchet, what do I need to do?" she asked.

As Arcee moved around the lab gathering what she needed for the procedure, Jack found a place for them to hide while he sifted through Megatron's head. When Arcee was ready, she brought a long cable to where he was and waited.

"Alright Arcee, I need you to place the patch to my chest." Jack instructed. Once she did so, Jack looked back up at her worried face. "Wish me luck."

* * *

The first thing he noticed when his HUD came back online was the destroyed buildings and the sound of distant battles being waged. Looking around, Jack found a large fortress with a statue of Megatron posing with a sadistic smile etched on it, positioned in the middle of a courtyard. The fortress had several towers around it, with several cannons mounted all over the area.

" _Can you hear us Jack?"_ Ratchet's voice came over the comm's.

"Yeah I can hear you." Jack answered. "J.A.R.V.I.S open a live feed of what I'm seeing."

"Yes Sir." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

"We have visual of what you're seeing Jack, it seems that you're in Kaon. The Decepticon Capital, and Megatron's seat of power during the war for Cybertron." Ratchet informed as Jack made his way through the building.

"Good to know." Jack said.

Hearing blaster fire from above him, he looked up to see different colours of blasters going off. Knowing that the other battles were far off, Jack wondered why one was so close to the capital. Hoping that this was where Megatron was, Jack flew up to the top of the tower and hid behind one of the columns.

Once making sure that he was properly hidden, Jack peeked around the corner to find himself in a large circular room, with a large throne at one end of it. Looking around the room again, Jack was horrified to find several of the Autobots bodies lying on the floor, dead and lifeless.

Arcee had her midsection stabbed and one of her arms ripped off. Bulkhead had his entire chest blasted right through, while Bumblebee was literally ripped into two from the waist down. Ratchet was stabbed by his own blade in his chest.

Quickly moving back behind the pillar, Jack swallowed hard and closed his eyes for a moment.

" _Jack, what's going on? What did you see!?"_ Ratchet asked in worry.

Catching himself, Jack shook his head. "Ratchet, get Miko and Raf out of the room and into my workshop. What is I saw was something that they are not ready for. Especially Raf." He explained.

After a few moments Jack heard Ratchets voice again. "The kids are have gone with Bulkhead. Now what was it that you did not want them to see?"

"J.A.R.V.I.S, do not allow Miko or Raf to see or hear what happens during the rest of the duration of this mission." Jack instructed.

"Understood sir." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

" _Jack, please answer me."_ Ratchet asked once again.

Sighing, Jack answered. "You'll see soon enough."

Turning around the pillar again, Jack surveyed the room again and saw looked at the dead bodies of the Autobots. He heard the sharp intake of breath from Ratchet, before looking away from the bodies and looked around the room. He suddenly heard a loud thud and found Optimus lying on the ground with his right arm missing and leaking Energon. He saw Megatron standing over Optimus, his foot keeping the Autobot leader on the ground, while he smiled sadistically at him.

"You have been beaten Optimus! Your Autobots are dead, the cause which you fought so hard for has been snuffed out and now Cybertron belongs to me!" Megatron gloated before laughing. "So Prime. Any last words."

Optimus groaned and stared at Megatron defiantly. "Your rule over Cybertron will not last Megatron. I may not be there to see it, but you will fall one day, and your tyranny will end." He stated.

"Oh I highly doubt that." Megatron said before aiming his arm cannon at Optimus and fired, blowing Optimus head off.

Despite knowing that this was all only in Megatron's mind, Jack could not help but scream in despair as he saw Optimus killed. Seeing the Autobots be killed in such a gruesome way and then seeing Optimus die in front of him, as well as memory of his mother's death, caused something in Jack to snap.

Activating his weapons, Jack fired off a barrage of missiles and repulsor blasts. Seeing the attacks simply pass right through Megatron, stopped Jack and wonder why he could not harm him. Remembering that during a cortical psychic patch no harm could come to either of the recipients, in the case that it could damage the psyche of the person.

Megatron, who had heard the scream looked up to see several attacks coming at him and no time dodge, braced himself for the impact. When the attacks simply phased right through him, he wondered why such a thing would occur. Looking at who had attacked him, he almost laughed at the fact that it was a minicon trying to fight him.

"And who might you be pest?" he growled out.

Jack stared at Megatron and knew that this was the chance he needed to gain the information to save Optimus. "I'm simply here to end you Megatron."

Megatron laughed at that. "And how are you going to do that, hmmm? Your attacks passed right through me." He stated as he made his way to Jack, who had not moved an inch, until he was standing right in front of Megatron.

"There are other alternatives to fighting." Jack said.

"Really? Well it's too bad that you won't live to find out." Megatron stated as he lifted his foot and brought it down on Jack. Only for it to pass right through him when he brought his foot down. "WHAT?! How can this be?!" he cried out, and proceeded to try and stomp on Jack, only for the same results.

Narrowing his optics, Megatron proceeded to look at Jack more closely and walk around him. "You're not wearing phase displacement armour. Nor are you hologram, and I don't believe in spirits. So tell me pest, what are you?"

Megatron then sat on his throne and chuckled. "A cortical psychic patch. How unexpected."

" _We've stirred Megatron from his oblivion. He's becoming self-aware Jack, be careful."_ Ratchet warned.

Megatron looked around his throne room, to the fallen bodies of the Autobots and then at Jack. "If this is my subconscious….What are you doing inside my head!" he demanded.

"Use your head Megatron." Jack taunted.

Instead of being enraged, Megatron simply got off his throne and stood in front of Jack. "The only way you could have entered my mind was via cortical psychic patch. But the question remains. WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!?" Megatron shouted.

Jack didn't say anything, but simply let Megatron figure it out. After a moment Megatron's optics widened and the scene changed from the throne room to that of the day Megatron tried to bring an undead army of Cybertronians from Cybertron to Earth. He saw Megatron look around him as the SpaceBridge exploded around him and tried to reach out to the closest undead. Just as he was about to touch the undead the SpaceBridge exploded in a brilliant flash of white and they were thrown back into the throne room.

"The SpaceBridge explosion." Megatron whispered. "But if you're in my head, that means I'm not one with the Allspark." Megatron looked down at Jack and asked. "So tell me, do is still function."

"No." Jack answered. "Your body is broken but your mind is still active." Jack answered.

"So that leaves us with why you are here?" Megatron asked.

"Two words. Cybonic Plague." Jack answered.

"Cybonic Plague! Someone besides myself is….is unwell?" Megatron asked, to which Jack nodded in confirmation. Megatron looked at Jack before smiling. "Optimus!"

He proceeded to laugh. "Such irony. That after ages of endless battle, that the great Optimus Prime is felled with a simple virus from the distant past." Megatron continued to laugh before stopping and looking at Jack. "And what makes you think that I would offer to save the life of my former enemy."

"You could have the one thing you've always desired." Jack baited.

Megatron put his hands on his hips and looked at Jack. "And what exactly do you think that I would want most?"

"The death of Optimus Prime." Jack stated.

"Don't you see, I could redo this whole thing again and destroy Optimus as much as I want." Megatron argued back.

"Killing someone in a dream is easy and takes no effort. You could kill a thousand Optimus in your dreams, but there will only be one true Optimus Prime. If you let the virus take away Optimus' life, you will _never_ get the chance to it yourself. And that is something I don't think you want." Jack countered.

As Megatron looked at Jack in thought, Jack knew he had Megatron. "After our deep history together, to _not_ watch the life ebb away from Optimus' eyes with my very own…Well played."

Megatron held out his fist and opened it, showing a hologram of the cure. Knowing that it would be so simple, Jack took a long look at the formula before looking back at Megatron. "and what is it that you want in return?" he asked.

"A way out." Megatron answered.

"How about no, Megatron. DISCONNECT NOW!" Jack shouted.

After saying this, the tower started to shake and crumble. Megatron realised that he had been tricked, and started to chase after Jack, who had flew off as soon as the tower started to crumble. The last thing he saw was Megatron screaming after him.

* * *

Jack was sitting in his workshop alone. With Miko and Raf back home, and Anthony with Miko, Jack was left with his thoughts for company. After retreating from the Nemesis and synthesising a cure for the virus from Megatron, Jack had quickly went to his workshop to keep his mind away from what he saw in Megatron's mind.

When asked if he was alright, Jack simply nodded before going to bed to get some sleep. He just hoped that what he saw, would not come to pass.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter. again sorry for the long wait, but i have had to deal with a lot of school work and projects.**

 **Time to answer some questions:**

 **The Tell- Tale man: as answered in this chapter, no.**

 **CapMarvel88: perhaps. not sure about Ultron but we'll see.**

 **SilverKnightja101: Yes i plan on going all the way to the end.**

 **Again i hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. and leave a review. Feedback is always welcome.**


	14. Out Of His Mind

**Hello everyone, sorry for the wait. Just saw Doctor Strange in cinemas and it was AWESOME! At least now i know what a person taking drugs and tripping balls sees. Anyway i hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 14

Running through the deserted street, the sound of battle not too far from him, Jack knew that without his armour he was useless. Finding a dead soldier, his rifle lying on the ground, Jack quickly picked it up and checked that the magazine was full, strapped the pistol on his right leg and wore the slightly bigger vest on him and made his way back to the fighting.

Artillery and tanks firing, dogfighting in the sky and soldiers screams of pain rang through his ears. As he continued running, the sounds of the battle slowly quieted down till there was no sound but the dogfighting above him, yet even that died down when the last of the jet fighters exploded. Fearing the worst, Jack rushed through the remaining street and stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw.

Dead.

That was all Jack saw, the dead bodies of the soldiers and destroyed vehicles and artillery. Moving among the dead slowly, careful not to step on anyone, Jack saw that as he made his way past the soldiers he saw a large pile of dead Cybertronians. Fearing the worst, he quickly made his way until he was on the other side. Once there, Jack's eyes widened and he fell on his knees as tears streamed down his face.

For at his feet lay the Autobots, dead like when he had went into Megatron's head to find a cure for Optimus. But unlike that time, this was no figment of imagination created by the Decepticon leader. They all had gruesome deaths.

He could see Bulkhead's arm to be completely blown off, with different parts of his body missing, a hole through the centre of his chest. Bumblebee was laying with his back to the sky and his legs complete ripped from him, it being riddled with numerous blaster shots and laying under him was a prone Raf.

Next to them was Ratchet. It looked like he was tortured before being killed, what with the various scars he had, as well as a missing his left optic. With the amount of Energon leaking from him, it seemed that he had a slow death.

Closing his eyes so that he would not witness the sight before him, Jack walked past his dead comrades and saw something that almost want to shoot himself.

It was Arcee, or rather what was left of her. The only thing that he saw was her body, and nothing else. Her arms and legs were ripped from her, as well as her head, leaving only a useless body. Next to her remains was a dead Airachnid, who he could guess was the one responsible for Arcee's evisceration. It seemed that they killed each other. Once again closing his eyes, Jack moved past his dead partner and found Megatron standing over a dead Optimus.

Megatron looked down and saw Jack standing not a few feet from him. He smiled, showing his sharp teeth he spoke. "Ah the boy. I see you have found the Autobots. All dead I'm afraid, as is the great Optimus Prime!" he shouted in glee.

Narrowing his eyes, Jack aimed at Megatron, only for the Decepticon to show that he held Miko in his hand. "I would not do that if I were you." Megatron taunted.

Lowering his rifle, Jack stared at Megatron. Not letting his smile go, Megatron threw Miko down to Jacks feet. Dropping his rifle, Jack checked Miko's neck to see if she was breathing. Feeling a faint pulse, Jack held on to Miko as Megatron powered up his cannon.

Knowing that there was nothing that he could do, Jack just looked at Miko one last time. Just before Megatron fired his weapon, Miko suddenly grabbed Jack by the collar and whispered in his ear.

"You could have saved us."

A bright flash and Jack knew no more.

* * *

Sitting up in his bed sweating and panting, Jack tried to stop his hands from shaking. Getting out of bed, Jack headed to the shower and washed his face. Grabbing a towel and drying his face, Jack took a long look at himself. He had bags under his eyes from his lack of sleep the past few days.

Sighing, Jack though back to what he saw in his dream. The Autobots dead and defeated. Earth in ruins and ruled by the Decepticons. He then went back to what Miko said in his dream before he woke up, something about how he could have saved them.

What did she mean when she said that? Maybe he had failed them somehow? Whatever it was he knew he had to think of something. Perhaps an army of Iron Men controlled by J.A.R.V.I.S? The only problem was that he currently lacked the space or materials to do so. Shaking his head, he decided to let the matter rest for the moment.

Walking out of his room and into his workshop, Jack turned the lights on and sat down in his chair. Swivelling in his chair and letting his mind wonder, Jack just stared at the ceiling blankly before abruptly sitting up.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, you up?" Jack called.

"For you sir, always." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

Getting up from his chair and making his way to the holographic table, Jack opened up a file and highlighted the Mark II. The table then showed an interactive hologram model of the Mark II.

"Do me a favour and create a new folder." Jack instructed as he disassembled the armour until it was only a skeleton.

"Very well sir, what shall I name it?" J.A.R.V.I.S asked.

By the time he was done planning out and doing the math for the project, it was one in the afternoon. So he decided to take a break and explore the base for a while. Walking down the long hallway, Jack realised that much of the base was unused and empty. Wondering why that was so, Jack decided he would ask one of the Autobots later.

Deciding to turn around and walk back to his workshop, Jack thought back to the last few days. Ever since curing Optimus from the Cybonic Plague, he has been having nightmares. Many times the dreams were when he were when he was in Megatron's head, to simply what he had seen last night.

But that was not the worst of it.

At times when he is alone he seems to have blackouts and no memory on why they happen. At times during these blackouts he could sometimes hear Megatron's voice in his head. At times he simply wakes up on the floor with a mild headache, while at other times he was found by either Raf, Miko or one of the Autobots.

When asked what had happened and if he was ok, Jack simply waved them off and said that he was fine. That did not dissuade Miko though, who kept pestering him about it until Jack finally caved in and said that the next time it happened he would explain.

Suddenly feeling nauseous and a headache forming, Jack quickly grabbed onto the wall to steady himself as he started to stumble. He could feel his left arm stretch out as if having a will of his own and calling on his armour.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, deactivate the calling system on the Mark VI!" Jack called out.

But it was too late as the final parts of his suit wrapped around him and activated. The last thing he saw was Megatron's face smiling at him in his mind before blacking out.

* * *

Waking up, Jack suddenly found himself in a room with a giant monitor. Looking around, Jack found that the room was sparse with a simple blue wallpaper and red carpet. Looking down, he realized that he was chained to a chair with no visible way to break the chains.

The screen suddenly came on and Jack looked up at it and gaped. There in front of him was Miko, who seemed to be waving her hand in front of the camera.

"Jack are you in there? What are you doing in your suit?" she asked.

Before Jack could answer, Miko was suddenly thrown back BY HIS OWN ARM!

Jack quickly realized that he was no longer in control of his body. He watched helplessly as his body moved through the base and into the main area, watching as he incapacitated Ratchet and punch in coordinates into the GroundBridge.

But before he could enter the GroundBridge, he was thrown back by blast from his side. Watching as his head turn and look at who had shot him, Jack surprised to see that it was Miko in her Rescue Armour, as she had dubbed it.

"Jack what has gotten into you!?" Miko asked.

Jack, who was by this point struggling to break free of his chains watched as his body simply fired off repulsor blasts at Miko, who dodged them. She then fired off her own as she saw Jack slowly move towards the still active GroundBridge.

"J.A.R.V.I.S deactivate the GroundBridge!" Miko cried out.

Jack's body quickly shot forward through the GroundBridge just before it closed.

Looking around at where he was, Jack realised that he was at the site where Optimus and Ratchet fought of a horde of Cybertronian undead. But why would he be here of all places? And how did he know of where the place was? The only other people who could know of such a thing besides Optimus and Ratchet, was Megatron.

Jack suddenly felt sick as he realised that Megatron was in his head. But how? That was the question. Jack thought about it when it suddenly dawned on him that it was when he was using the cortical psychic patch.

Megatron must have tried to escape, and since he was leaving, Megatron must have used the link to move his conscious into his own mind. That must have been the reason for all the blackouts and loss of memory, Megatron was trying to gain control of his body to get back into his own.

Turning back to the screen, Jack watched as he found a large purple crystal buried beneath some rock. Dark Energon. That was how he going to do resurrect himself. He suddenly heard the sound of a GroundBridge behind him and saw his own head turn to the sound.

His body moved through the GroundBridge, but not before picking up the Dark Energon. Walking through the GroundBridge, Jack saw that he was confronted by both Ratchet and Miko.

Walking towards Ratchet, who was standing in front of the GroundBridge controls.

"Jack what is going on? First you attack Miko, then me. What has gotten into you?" Ratchet asked.

Jack just watched as his body walked right passed Ratchet and towards the terminal. He was stopped as his body was suddenly turned around to find Miko in front of him. She looked down and gasped as she saw what Jack was holding.

"Jack why are you holding onto Dark Energon?" Miko asked. When she received no answer she tried to take the Energon from him. That was when everyone, including Jack heard him speak.

"Jack is no longer here. There is only MEGATRON!" Jack shouted out in Megatron's voice as he suddenly punched Miko hard enough to send her flying.

Quickly moving towards the terminal, Jack punched in the coordinates to the Decepticon warship. Ratchet who was holding onto Miko, could not stop Megatron from leaving through the GroundBridge.

* * *

Jack watched as Megatron moved through the Decepticon warship and into the medical bay where his body was kept. As Megatron placed one end of the cortical psychic patch to the back of his head and the other into his suit's chest, Jack thought of a plan to escape once Megatron was back in his own body.

Watching as Megatron fired a repulsor blast from his hand at the life support on his chest, he flew up above his own body, looked at the Dark Energon in his hand and threw it at the opening in his chest.

Nothing happened until the Jack suddenly found himself in his own body above Megatron. Landing on the floor, Jack saw as Megatron stood from the Medical bed and walked towards the door as Soundwave and a squad of eight Decepticon drones ran in, only to stop when they saw Megatron.

"Soundwave. Deal with the boy." Megatron ordered as he exited the medical bay.

Looking at the Decepticons in front of him, he stared at them and they stared back, both waiting for the other to make the first move. The wait wasn't long as Soundwave unleashed two of his tentacles and tried to swipe at Jack as the drones opened fire on him.

Dodging both the tentacles and the blaster fire from the drones was no easy task as Jack ducked, weaved and dodged everything that came his way. Flying around the room, Jack fired off his repulsors at the Decepticons, three of which fell while the others dodged it.

Suddenly one of the tentacles grabbed Jack by his leg and threw him at the wall. Catching himself, Jack managed to have his feet hit the wall before using the wall as a boost to shoot forward and fire off his missiles and the group. Soundwave managed to dodge the barrage of missiles, but not the rest of the remaining drones, who were all destroyed. Flying towards Soundwave, Jack tried to punch him in the face, but was stopped by being caught by one of Soundwave's tentacles by the leg.

Being held upside down, Jack tried to fire at Soundwave but was stopped the silent 'con wrapped his other tentacle around both of Jack's arms. Trapped, Jack ordered his remaining free leg boot to disengage from his leg and use the thrusters to burn Soundwave's face.

The boot did just as ordered and scorched the 'con until he released Jack.

As Soundwave brought a hand to his face, the boot reapplied to his leg and Jack shot forward and punched Soundwave to the side and onto the floor. Once Soundwave was down, Jack started to punch at the Decepticon Spy Master's face until it cracked. That seemed to enrage the silent 'con as he grabbed onto Jack and threw him at one of the nearby terminals.

Groaning from the pain, Jack looked up to see Soundwave walking towards him. Getting up quickly, Jack flew out of the medical bay and through the hallways of the Decepticon warship. Flying through the hallways, Jack tried to find an exit when he was suddenly being fired upon from behind. Looking back, Jack saw that it was Laserbeak, Soundwave's loyal pet.

As Laserbeak continued to fire at Jack, Jack dodged the fire until he was out in the open blue sky. Jack started to gain altitude until he suddenly did a 180 degree turn and started to fire his repulsors at Laserbeak, who had turned and started to retreat. Once Jack could not see Laserbeak anymore, Jack looked around to find that he was in the Artic.

Just as Jack was about to call for a GroundBridge, his sensors suddenly picked up a life sign, faint but still there. Moving towards where the signal was coming from, Jack found a giant crashed plane. Flying down towards the ground, Jack managed to find the name of the crashed plane.

It was called the Valkyrie.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, are you there?" Jack called.

"Yes sir. Are you feeling better now?" J.A.R.V.I.S asked.

"Yes J.A.R.V.I.S I am. Listen I need you to find me any information on a plane called the Valkyrie." Jack said. "How is Miko?"

"Very well sir. And Ms Nakadai is doing well sir, just a mild concussion nothing more."

"That's good to hear. Tell me when you find any information." Jack said as he released a sigh of relief knowing that Miko was unharmed.

Moving through the wreckage of the crashed plane, Jack noticed that many of the planes were models used in World War II. Moving through the hanger like area, Jack found himself in the cockpit.

"Sir, from the information I have been able to gather, the Valkyrie was a bomber plane that was designed to drop suicide drone bombs across the entire United States during World War Two." J.A.R.V.I.S explained. "It was developed by HYDRA, and was almost successful in dropping the bombs if one Captain Steven Rogers aka Captain America had not stopped their plan by crashing the bomber into the Arctic Ocean."

"What happened to the Captain?" Jack asked as searched the wreckage.

"Unknown sir, many reports state that he is most likely dead." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

Nodding at that piece of information, Jack found a small hole and soft blue glow coming from it. Moving towards it, Jack ripped the grilling off and found a cube the size of a tennis ball. Picking it up, Jack looked at the glow coming off from it and was amazed at the amount of power that was coming from it.

"J.A.R.V.I.S are you seeing the same readings?" Jack asked.

"Yes sir, it seems to be radiating off a form of energy that I am unfamiliar with." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

Holding onto the cube, Jack was about to make his way out of the plane when he noticed that the life sign was stronger near the front of the cockpit, where the pilot's chair was seated. Moving towards it, Jack was found an open grill. Looking at his HUD again, it seemed that the signal was coming from right underneath him.

Hovering down below, Jack turned his flashlight on and was amazed at what he saw. Right in front of him was a man frozen in ice. He could not see his features clearly but what he could see was a large round shield painted red, white and blue with a white star in the middle.

"J.A.R.V.I.S get me Ratchet now." Jack ordered.

"Very well sir." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

It didn't take long for Ratchet to answer. " _Yes Jack what is it?_ " he asked.

"I need you and Miko to come to my coordinates immediately. We're going to need your medical expertise." Jack explained as he used his free hand and used it as a torch to cut a hole large enough for Ratchet to get in.

" _Very well, standby."_ Ratchet complied.

Once the hole was cut through, Ratchet and Miko were right in front of him. Motioning for them to follow, Jack showed them the body.

* * *

Once they managed to get the ice into the base and into one of the rooms next to his workshop, Jack placed the cube in his lab to begin studying it. Thus far, much of it was slow and the power readings were astounding. Keeping the cube in a container and locking it up in a hidden safe under one of the floor panels, Jack then went to look at his computer.

Thinking back to what General Bryce said to him after his meeting with the Pentagon, Jack could not help but agree that the world was filling up with different threats and people. It was for that reason that Jack was helping the government.

Going through the files until he came to the one he did earlier in the morning and another that was currently in the works, Jack wondered what the future was in store for them. He looked at the files and at their names and hoped that it would save them.

File name: Project Infinite Warfare.

File name: The Avengers Initiative.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tell me what you guys think off Jack's nightmares and the project title.**

 **Do you guys think i should do a Doctor Strange story with Jack as the Sorcerer Supreme? Tell me what you guys think.**

 **Now to answer some questions.**

 **SilverKnightja 101: Jack and Miko's relationship will go far. and for your other question concerning the buster armour. it will come, just not when.**

 **CapMarvel88: Arcee was hesitant and Jack could see that, not only that but Arcee was not one to make any deal or bargain with Megatron, whereas both Bumblebee and Jack could see reason and not just past the Decepticon insignia. Miko did not go because Jack just does not wish to see harm come to Miko. The armour was made to help with any injury, both human and Cybertronian, not for combat.**

 **Anyways i hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you have any inquires , please ask them in the reviews and have an awesome days.**


	15. Thawing and Lost Reasons

**Hello Everyone. Sorry for the LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG ass wait for this chapter, but i have had nothing coming to my brain for this chapter. But anyway enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 15

Walking through the hallways of the base, Jack made his way to where they were keeping the body. After they had brought the ice back, Jack had looked up on everything on Captain America. From what he had found, Captain Steven Rogers was part of the Super Soldier Program, developed during World War II by German scientist, Dr Abraham Erskine, to combat the Hydra threat.

Leader of the Howling Commandos, an elite group of men tasked with assisting the Captain in battle. Many of their victories led to less casualties during the war. It also helped that they managed to take down the Hydra leader, The Red Skull, another person that took the Super Soldier Program but his body has yet to be found.

Entering the room Jack saw the captain lying on the floor. Going over to him, Jack picked him up and placed him on the nearby gurney and turned on the artificial sunlight lamps, hoping to warm the body off its seventy yearlong ice bath. Seeing the shield strapped to the captain's arm, Jack gently pried it from his body and brought it to his workshop for study.

Placing the shield on his table, Jack brought a scanner to assess what the shield was made of. Getting a reading for his scanner, Jack went to his computer and plugged it in to see the contents.

"J.A.R.V.I.S what is the shield made off?" Jack asked.

"The shield is made a mix of Vibranium and Cybertronian metal. It is stronger than steel and a third of the weight. Completely vibration absorbent and able to resist high temperatures sir." The AI answered.

"Vibranium?" Jack asked.

"A metal that is held by the country of Wakanda." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

"How come it's not used more often?" Jack inquired.

"Any efforts that have been made to broker a trade between the Wakandan people and the rest of the world has been met with denial." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

"What was their reason?" Jack asked.

"They say the metal is theirs to keep due to them having founded it." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

Humming in thought, Jack wondered where the Cybertronian metal came from for the shield to be made of. Staring at the computer screen some more, Jack found it interesting that a metal could be absolutely vibration proof. If he had a sample of the metal and created a suit out of both Cybertronian and Vibranium, like that of the Captain's shield, it would give him an advantage.

"I would not do that if I were you Captain Rogers." Jack said without turning from the computer screen.

Knowing that he had caught the man off guard, Jack smirked before turning in his chair to look at the six foot man.

"If you would place the shield back on the table and follow me, I'll get you a towel." Jack said, completely unfazed by the man opposite him.

Getting off the chair, Jack, followed by the Captain, made his way back to where the artificial sunlight's were and turned them off before grabbing a towel from the table nearby and throwing it to the Captain.

"Shower is through that door, fresh clothes are on the table. When you're done, I'll answer your questions." Jack said before walking back into his workshop.

Fifteen minutes later, a fresh Steve Rogers entered Jack's workshop.

Pointing to a table with a tray of food on it, Jack continued to stare at the computer screen. "Hungry? I brought some breakfast for you."

"You said you were going to answer my questions." The Captain stated.

"You're bound to have a long list of questions Captain. I suggest at least eating if you want to have all your questions asked." Jack replied taking a drink from his hot cup of tea.

For the next ten minutes, it was absolute silence with the only sound being Jack typing on his computer. Once the Captain finished his meal, Jack rolled over to him with his chair and stared at him.

"Full? Good. Now you had some questions for me?" Jack said leaning back on his chair, relaxed.

The Captain did not say anything for a minute as he stared at Jack, before opening his mouth. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"My name is Jackson William Darby, and you are Steven Grant Rogers. As for where you are, you are in Jasper Nevada." Jack answered.

"Why am I here?" Captain Rogers asked.

"You've been asleep for seventy years Captain Rogers…" Jack started.

"Steve." Captain Rogers interrupted.

"Pardon?" Jack asked, eyebrow raised.

"Call me Steve." Steve answered.

"Very well Steve, you may call me Jack." Jack said giving a small smile. "Anyway, as I said you've been asleep in ice for seventy years." He finished.

Steve's eyes widened as he slumped in his chair and placed his hand on his forehead. He did not say anything as Jack took the tray to the sink to wash later. Jack came back with a cup of water and placed it on the table.

"Are you going to be ok?" Jack asked, worried that he just broke Captain America.

Steve just sat up on his chair and looked at Jack before giving a small smile. "Yeah. I just need some time to think."

Nodding, Jack made his out of his workshop and into the hallway. Closing the door behind him, Jack sighed before the sound of footsteps caught his attention. Turning his head, Jack saw that it was Fowler, Raf and Miko with Anthony being held by Miko.

Smiling at them, Jack made his way towards them, stopping just in front of them. "Fowler, Miko, Raf, what are you all doing here?" he asked.

"How's the Captain, Jack?" Fowler asked.

"Awake and dealing with the fact that he just jumped seventy years into the future." Jack answered.

Fowler nodded at this as he seemed to be thinking about something. "I would like to meet him."

Jack just looked at Fowler before nodding before bringing them to his workshop.

Entering his workshop and seeing Steve still in the same place as when he left him, Jack brought them to him.

Standing in front of him, Jack started to introduce them to him. "Steve I would like you to meet Miko Nakadai, Rafael Esquivel and Agent Fowler."

Steve got up and smiled as he shook all of their hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Anthony then hopped off from where he was nestled on and onto the table to make his way to Steve. The scraplet stood in front of him and cocked it's head to the side slightly and chirped at him.

Steve smiled at this and began to rub his hand on Anthony's large head. "Well hello there, little one. What's your name?" he asked as Anthony started to chirp in content as Steve continued to rub his hand on his head.

"His name is Anthony." Miko answered as she took out her phone and took a picture.

"Anthony. A good name." Steve complimented. "I assume you created him Jack?" he asked.

"In a sense Steve." Jack replied.

"Son, there are some people who would like to see you." Fowler said.

"Are you sure that's wise Fowler? I mean he just woke up." Jack asked.

"Not my choice Jack. As soon as my superiors heard that we had found Captain America, they demanded that we bring him to them." Fowler answered.

"You can tell them to go to hell. The man just woke up from being frozen, Fowler." Jack argued back angrily. "If they want to question him, then they can wait."

"It's ok Jack, I'll go with Agent Fowler." Steve said, hoping to diffuse the situation before it escalated.

Jack just looked at Steve for a few moments before sighing. "Fine. But you're going to explain everything to him Fowler." He said, glaring at Fowler.

* * *

Making their way to the main area, Fowler had explained everything to Steve. From the Autobots and Decepticons to how Jack, Miko and Raf were involved. Leading the group through the hallways, Jack was deep in thought as he listened into the conversation taking place, giving input when Fowler started to go into the missions that he and the Autobots had been through.

When Fowler began to speak about M.E.C.H and how they fit into the war, Jack silenced him with a harsh glare when Fowler started on when M.E.C.H attacked Jasper. Much to the confusion of Steve and the sad look Miko and Raf had.

Once they made it to where the Autobots were, Jack noticed that instead of Fowler bringing Steve to his superiors, they were here in person, along with General Bryce and a platoon of soldiers, all of who were standing near the elevator.

Making their way to where they were, Jack stood in front of General Bryce before holding his hand out. "General Bryce, why the soldiers?"

General Bryce shook Jack's hand before answering. "Protection?"

"For or from?" Jack asked, narrowing his eyes.

"For, Mr Darby." General Bryce answered.

Nodding, Jack moved to the side to allow Steve to meet General Bryce. As Steve made his way to Bryce, many of the soldiers looked on in awe as they saw a man they idolized in front of them greet the General.

"General." Steve said, saluting the aforementioned General.

"Captain Rogers." Bryce said, saluting back.

"You asked for me sir?" Steve asked.

"Not me Captain, them. I'm just here because I'm the only one besides Agent Fowler that knows everyone here." Bryce said, indicating to the men in uniform watching on.

"Sirs." Steve said, saluting once again.

"At ease Captain." Bryce said. "We are here today Captain Rogers, because we would like to offer you a way to serve your country once again."

Steve seemed to be in shock as he did not think that he would in active duty immediately, just as he was about to answer Jack cut into the conversation.

"Now hold on there General." Jack said.

"Jack!" Fowler cried out.

"Captain Rogers is not fit for active duty until a thorough medical examination is done. Once that is done, then AND only then will he be ready for active duty." Jack said.

General Bryce just looked at Jack. "And how long would these examinations take?" he asked

"A month, if we are lucky." Jack said.

"Very well Mr Darby. You'll be in charge of him, but I expect a full detailed report by the end of the month." Bryce said.

"Understood." Jack agreed. "Now if there is nothing else, there is something I must speak with the General before he and the others leave."

Jack led General Bryce to one the entrance of the hallway while Steve talked to the Autobots. Once there, he made sure that no one was watching before he spoke.

"How are the projects coming along?" Jack asked.

"We're almost done with both of them. They should be up by the end of the month." Bryce answered.

"What about Project Infinite Warfare?" Jack asked.

"I've brought it up with the Secretary of Defence and the President." Bryce answered as he pulled out an envelope.

"And?" Jack pressed.

"See for yourself." Bryce said as he handed the envelope to him.

Taking the letter from Bryce, Jack opened the envelope and read the letter inside.

 _Dear Mr Jackson William Darby_

 _We have heard your proposition from General Bryce and have after much discussion, have agreed to allow you to help build new ways to defend us from the Decepticons and any other alien race out in the universe._

 _Understand that we did not come to this decision lightly and have therefor only allowed you to create a single ship, to allow us to better understand if we can put our trust in your abilities. To that end we ask that you have blueprints ready two weeks from now so that we begin construction._

 _Know that if we have the power to shut your project down if any problems come up. Should anything happen to the project, you will be held accountable to it._

 _Signed:_

 _Secretary_ _of Defence_

Placing the letter back into the envelope and handing it back to Bryce, Jack started to make his way to his workshop to begin the blueprints before turning his head back to the General.

"Thank you General Bryce. Tell the others I'll be in my workshop if they need me." He said before continuing on his way.

* * *

Sitting on his chair and staring at the screen, Jack sighed as he grabbed his cup to have a drink, only to realise that it was empty. Grumbling in irritation, Jack made his way to the fridge to grab a bottle of iced tea and some cookies that Miko had bought for him a few days ago.

Once done, Jack went back to his seat and sat down eating a cookie as he did. Looking at the screen where an initial outline of what the ship would look like was on, Jack wondered how the others would react if he knew that he was making weapons to combat the Decepticons.

Looking back at the outline, Jack looked at the 3D holographic image on display for him to visualize it completely. Giving the outline a more solid look and inputting a few dimensions, Jack started to use his finger as a pen to draw outlines that had him either remove or add more to the design of the ship.

Suddenly a knock on his door was heard. Turning around and making his way to the door, Jack opened it to see Steve in front of it. "Steve, something the matter?" he asked.

Steve just shook his head. "No. Just have a lot on my mind."

"Oh, well come on in." Jack said, moving aside to allow Steve to enter.

Closing the door, Jack saw Steve move around his workshop, particularly to where he kept his Iron Man armours. As he moved around his workshop, Jack wondered why he had come to him and what seems to have been bothering him.

"What's on your mind Steve?" Jack asked.

Steve kept silent as he stared at his casing of suits. "You made all of this?" he asked.

"Yes." Jack answered, wondering why he would ask that.

"Why?" Steve asked.

Jack did not reply immediately as he thought back on why he had decided to become Iron Man. The day he and his father were kidnapped by Silas ad forced to create weapons for him. How his father and Yinsen died trying to make sure that he had escaped. Back then he had promised that he would make sure he was not caught flat-footed in case Silas tried something on him and his mother again.

But for all of his ability to create armours to keep him safe, he could not keep his own mother safe from Silas.

"I made a promise a long time ago that I would make sure that I would protect my family." Jack started. "But I broke that promise and now I don't know why I do the things I do."

"I understand." Steve said turning to face Jack, who looked at him curiously. "We've both lost our way and now don't have a reason to do the things we do."

Jack understood what he meant. If he was frozen in ice for seventy years and everyone he knew was old or dead, he would also lose the reason to do the things he does. At times, Jack wondered what his life would have been like if he was never captured by Silas and that his father was not dead. He would probably still have met the Autobots.

"Jack." Steve's voice brought him back to the present. "We can't lose the fact that we have the people around us to help find that reason."

Jack nodded at this and gave a small smile at Steve. "Thanks for that Steve."

* * *

 **First thing i have to say is that Steve is still somewhat in shock that everyone he knows are either old or dead, so he's just going through everything in a daze.**

 **As for Jack, he has lost his way and is just using his projects as a distraction to not let all the guilt swallow him up, first of his father dying and then his mother. Even though his projects have a reason to be created, Jack has no reason other than to keep everyone safe.**

 **Please tell me what you think of this chapter. Remember to leave your thoughts in the review and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.**

 **Stay awesome everyone.**


	16. ShadowZone

**Hello everyone. Here is another chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 16

Walking through the hallways towards the training room near his workshop, Jack and Steve prepared for their regular training and Steve's physical condition wearing a grey wife-beater, track pants and running shoes. It had been two weeks since General Bryce allowed Steve to be in his care until he was fit for active duty.

In that time, Jack had made much progress in Steve's medical examinations. Whenever the WWII veteran wasn't going through training, he was at the library, accompanied by Miko, to learn about what had happened after he was put in ice. He had also sat together with the rest of the kids when they were watching movies.

Opening the door, Jack and Steve made their way towards the wrestling ring at the back of the room. The room was moderately sized, with a viewing platform with a set of staircases on the right side of the room for the humans, while the entire left side of the room was completely empty, where the Autobots would be.

Putting on the boxing gloves and placing the boxing headgear atop their heads, they entered the ring and stood on opposite sides of the ring posts. Just as they were about to begin, the door opened and in came Miko, Raf, Fowler and the rest of the Autobots.

"Good morning everyone." Steve greeted as he gave a small smile and a nod of his head towards them.

"Morning Steve." They replied back as they each took positions at their sides of the room.

"What's going on guys?" Jack asked.

"Nothing, we just wanted to see how you and Steve here train." Miko asked, staring at both Jack and Steve's chests, with a dreamy smile on her face.

Jack looked at Steve and shrugged his shoulder and simply prepared himself. Steve nodded back and readied himself as well. The bell rang and both participants quickly stepped to the middle of the ring.

Jack started off with a right hook, with Steve leaning back from the attack and returning with a straight right jab to the face. Stumbling back, Jack regained his footing quickly and moved in with a left punch to the stomach and then subsequent punch to the ribs before quickly distancing himself. Steve was only a little winded as he moved around the ring with Jack moving along with him, making sure to keep his distance.

Seeing an opportunity, Jack shot forward and raised his fist, trying to fool Steve into thinking that he was going for a straight out attack. Once Steve was about to defend himself Jack quickly changed course and used his left arm to punch at Steve's stomach once again, only for him to be knocked back with a punch to the face. Sweating, Jack stared at Steve intensely, seeing the man simply panting lightly. Shaking his head, Jack stepped forward once again and readied himself, bringing his hands to his face.

Steve did nothing but let his arms fall to the side, signalling that the fight was over, sighing, Jack also let his arms fall to the side. Taking their gloves and headgear off, they each grabbed a towel and a bottle of water to freshen up. Hearing clapping, they both turned to see Miko, Raf and Fowler make their way towards them, while the Autobots also made their way.

"That was so cool!" Miko cried out as she reached them.

"Yeah, but I still could not beat Steve." Jack replied with a smile.

"It is not about winning or losing Jack. It's about learning from your battles and improving upon them." Steve countered, to which Jack smiled back at him.

Feeling a hand on his towel, Jack turned to look only to see Miko rubbing the towel on his forehead. Looking closely, Jack smirked, seeing Miko staring at his sweaty chest. Placing his hand under her chin, Jack tilted her face upwards, watching as Miko's eyes stared transfixed on his chest.

"Miko, my eyes are up here." Jack spoke softly.

Jack saw Miko break from her stupor and gain a heavy blush as she looked away from Jack, who had started to laugh at the situation.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Jack, Miko and Raf were sitting in their area. Fowler had left earlier, stating that he had paperwork that needed filing, while Steve went to take a nap. Seeing that Miko was occupied with her drawing and Raf was busy with his laptop, Jack decided to go through with looking at possible upgrades and suit designs. Just as he was about to head to his lab, Jack heard Ratchet speak up.

"I had hoped that my studies on the subject would be purely academic. But though faint, this is clearly a sign of Dark Energon, and it moving fast." He heard Ratchet speak.

"Megatron." Optimus stated.

"Where did he find more?" Arcee asked as she and Bulkhead made their way towards them.

"And what's he going to do with it? Raise another army of the undead?" Bulkhead asked.

"Zombiecons?" Miko asked, perking up at the mention of the undead.

"No" Jack stated as he looked at Miko, who had turned to look at him.

"But-." Miko started, only to be cut off.

"No." Jack repeated. Miko huffed and crossed her arms, before going back to her drawings.

"While it may be possible, we cannot rule out the possibility. Especially since he seems to be returning to a familiar location." Optimus stated. "While Megatron has not been seen or heard from in the past two weeks, it would seem that he is making up for lost time. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Ratchet you're coming with me."

"Why me Optimus?" the medic asked.

"If it indeed is Dark Energon, then I will require you're expertise." Optimus answered. "Arcee."

"Bridge control, got it." Arcee acknowledged as she punched in the coordinates.

"Go get them Bulkhead." Miko shouted out, not turning her eyes away from her drawing.

Jack narrowed his eyes and stared at Miko intently. ' _What is she up to? It's not like her to not want to go?'_ Jack thought as the GroundBridge activated with the usual green and white vortex.

"Autobots, roll out!" Optimus cried out as he transformed and drove off. Once doing so, Miko threw her drawing to the table and raced towards the GroundBridge before it closed.

"Making a break!" Jack said as he grabbed his backpack armour and chased after his girlfriend with Raf just behind him.

Jumping down two flights of stairs at a time, Jack managed to quickly catch up to Miko, who was just about to enter the GroundBridge. Grabbing her arm, Jack pulled at her arm. "It's not safe Miko!"

"I'm not missing my first Zombiecon showdown." Miko shot back as she yanked her arm out of Jack's grasp and run right through the GroundBridge, her phone falling out of her pocket without her notice.

"Miko!" Jack cried out in frustration, before running after her, Raf in tow.

* * *

Exiting the GroundBridge, Jack saw the Autobots just ahead of them, seeming not to have noticed the three humans just behind them. Looking to the side, Jack saw Miko make her way towards a large boulder and climbing it. Running after her, Jack and Raf made their way up the boulder and towards Miko who was lying on top of the boulder, stomach faced down.

"Miko! What were you thinking?!" Jack asked kneeling down next to her.

"She wasn't." Raf pointed out as he kneeled next to Jack.

"Hey, I missed out on the last fight. This could be my only chance to take some picture." Miko argued back as she went to grab her phone. Only to realise it wasn't with her. "My phone! I must have left it at the base."

Hearing shots fired, Jack looked to see Starscream lose his arm and hide behind one of the large boulders. Just as he was about to ask J.A.R.V.I.S to send for a GroundBridge, Miko had decided that this was a good place to scream at him.

"I can't believe you made me forget my phone!" She shouted at him.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jack just sighed before replying. "And how exactly is this my fault?" he asked.

Just as she was about to answer two GroundBridge's opened simultaneously, causing confusion to be shared by everyone. Ratchet looked at both of them with wide eyes before shouting at them. "You three, into our GroundBridge. Now!"

Grabbing Miko's arm, Jack pulled her into the GroundBridge with Raf in front of them. Entering into the GroundBridge, they had no time to react as a large explosion happened in front of them, knocking them out.

Groaning, Jack felt himself lying on the ground. He looked both ways to see Miko and Raf also lying on the ground next to him. Pushing his hands off the ground and slowly he got onto his feet. "Everybody still in one piece?" he asked.

"Yeah I think so." Raf said as he too got up and adjusted his glasses.

"Me too." Miko said as she also got off the ground.

They heard groaning from behind them and turned to see Bulkhead stand on his feet. Jack looked around the area and found that it was extremely foggy and the pace seemed to almost lose all colour, except for himself, Miko and Raf. Turning back, Jack saw the other Autobots also get back onto their feet.

"What happened?" Bulkhead asked.

"I'm not too sure. But my guess is, is that when two GroundBridges are sent to the same coordinates they crossed streams. Causing a feedback that could have triggered a system overload." Ratchet explained.

"Could? More like did!" Miko cried out.

The Autobots seemed to not have heard her, as Bulkhead asked if the kids had made it back to base. Confused, Miko walked forward and shouted at him. "Bulkhead, we're right here!"

"Arcee, did the children make it safely back to base?" Optimus asked.

Arcee must have said something to cause Ratchet to say his next two words. "No sign."

"What? 'No sign'?! Seriously Bulkhead-." Miko said, only to be cut off as Bulkhead seemed to have stepped right through her, causing Miko to freak out and stumble back into Jack's arms.

"He went right through you." Jack stated in disbelief.

"We're not alive!" Raf cried out in terror as he grabbed onto Jack's shirt. "I don't want to be a ghost."

"Hang on. How can _we_ still touch each other?" Miko asked as she got out of Jack's arms.

Seeing the Autobots move forward, they followed behind them, listening in on what they were saying.

"Ratchet, could the children have been transported to the Nemesis instead?" Optimus asked.

"Not likely. If Starscream did not arrive at our base, then the most likely possibility would be that they were bridged to an unintended destination." Ratchet theorised, causing the kids to stop in their tracks.

"Another place, but at the same time the same place?" Raf asked himself.

"We're probably in another dimension. It would explain why we're the only ones that can touch each other and not interact with the Autobots, a shadow zone if will." Jack explained as he saw the Autobots look at where Skyquake was buried.

"It would seem that Starscream got what he had come for." Ratchet stated.

"How did we miss Skyquake rising from the ground?" Bulkhead asked.

"Another matter for another time. Right now our main priority is finding the children." Optimus stated. "Arcee, we request a GroundBridge."

Jack, Miko and Raf watched as the Autobots moved towards the GroundBridge. Suddenly the ground started to shake and the sound of heavy footsteps could be heard. Looking up, they saw a clawed hand grab on to the rock, then the reanimated body of Skyquake emerged from the corner as he shambled his way towards the Autobots. Eyes widening, Jack and the others started to run after Skyquake, shouting for the Autobots to look behind them.

"Optimus! Look behind you!" Jack shouted.

"Bulkhead lookout!" Miko cried out to her guardian.

"Bumblebee!" Raf also shouted.

Yet their cries were for naught as when Skyquake took a swipe at Bulkhead, his attack simply passed right through him. Confused the resurrected Decepticon tried again, only for the results to be the same. Stopping, Jack and the others were glad that it could not attack the Autobots.

"Awesome! It can't touch them either." Miko cheered, only for Skyquake to turn his head and look straight at them.

"Yeah, unfortunately that means he's in here with us." Jack said as he pressed the centre button on his chest, transforming his backpack into his Iron Man armour.

Once he did, Jack shot forward and punched Skyquake so hard that the giant Decepticon fell on his back. Nodding, Jack tried to reach J.A.R.V.I.S, only to hear static on the other end. Sighing, he landed next to Miko.

"I can't get to anyone on the other side. Raf do you have your phone with you?" he asked.

Raf dug into his pocket and pulled it out. "Yeah."

"Great, try texting Miko's phone. Tell them that we are in another dimension, and that they should try and have J.A.R.V.I.S do a scan for my suit." Jack explained.

"Uh guys…." Miko said.

Turning his head towards Miko, he was about to ask what it was that she wanted, when a roar was heard in front of them. Looking up, Jack saw that Skyquake had gotten up, and that he was moving towards them at a faster pace than he was before.

"Raf, Miko hide. I'll deal with Skyquake until the 'bots find us." Jack ordered as he shot forward again.

Flying towards the undead Decepticon, Jack fired off his repulsors and then gave a hard kick to Skyquake's chest, causing him to stumble back. He roared back at Jack, and tried to grab him, only to miss. Jack then started to fly around Skyquake, firing off more repulsors blasts to keep him distracted. Jack continued to do this for the next five minutes, always flying around Skyquake, firing his repulsors and making sure to keep out of Skyquake's reach. Suddenly the sound of a GroundBridge opening could be heard.

"Jack! The GroundBridge!" Miko shouted as she and Raf made a run for it.

Making sure that Skyquake would not chase them, Jack grabbed onto Skyquake's arm and tossed him as far as he could, and causing the arm that Jack was holding to be ripped from the rest of its body. Dropping the arm, Jack shot towards the GroundBridge, grabbing onto Miko and Raf by their waist and flying through the GroundBridge and back into the real world.

* * *

Jack was extremely disappointed in Miko.

Sitting on the couch with her head faced down, Miko would not dare look at Jack as he was pacing. She had not only followed the Autobots through the GroundBridge, but she did it just to take some pictures. Jack had hoped that she would stop doing these crazy stunts when she got her suit and her role as a secondary medic. Evidently, it would seem that she would continue to do so until she learnt some responsibility.

"I can't believe that you did that Miko!" Jack said. "I thought that you would stop going out with the Autobots to dangerous situations, unless there was an emergency. You put Raf's life in danger!"

"I'm sorry." Miko apologised softly.

"It's not me you should be apologising to Miko." Jack said. Sighing, he knelt in front of her and forced her head to look at him. "Miko. I've already lost my father and mother in this, don't make me lose you too."

"I understand Jack." Miko said softly.

"No, I don't think you do. I'm taking the Rescue suit from you. It will not be for forever, just until you've shown me that you can be trusted to not pull stunts like these again. You'll be studying more about medicine with Ratchet." Jack ordered, to which Miko nodded her head.

Miko then got up from her seat and made her way towards where the Autobots were. Looking at her, Jack sighed and hoped that he was doing the right thing.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a comment or question in the reviews and tell me what you think.**


	17. Operation Breakdown

**Another Chapter for Iron Man, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 17

Jack watched as Bulkhead went through the GroundBridge, convinced by Miko to help out his nemesis, in her words, Breakdown. While Miko's reasons were not as noble, she had the right idea in helping Breakdown. No one, not even a Decepticon deserved to be experimented and dissected on, especially not by someone as mad as Silas and M.E.C.H.

Turning his head, Jack saw Steve watching the horror movie with great interest, something that he had done whenever they were watching movies. Just last week they had all, even the Autobots, watched the entire Star Wars series, from the originals, prequels and even the sequel. Because of that series, Miko had not stopped asking him to build a lightsaber, an idea that he had repeatedly shot down.

As much as he didn't want to pull the good Captain from the movie, he knew that this was a good way to get Steve back in action and into the thick of things. With that in mind he got up and made his way to his lab.

"Where you going Jack?" Steve asked.

"Lab." Said person answered back, without looking back and just moved through the dark hallways to where his lab was.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, the Mark VI if you please." Jack asked, standing in the middle of the floor in his lab.

"Very good sir." The A.I answered.

The floor then started to part, and from under the floor came the suit, polished and rearmed. The suit opened up, allowing for him to enter it. Once done, the closed in around him and started to activate the suits functions and HUD. Testing the suit to make sure that everything was in order and finding that everything was just so, he made his way towards where everyone was, but not before leaving a package for Steve in his room. Walking in to find Steve watching the horror movie, while Miko and Raf were asleep.

Said person noticed that he was in armour and got up from his seat and made his way towards him."Going somewhere Jack?" he asked.

Jack nodded and replied. "Yes. Come with me, it'll be a good way to see if you're fit for active duty."

Steve turned to look at the still sleeping teens. "What about Miko and Raf?" he asked.

"J.A.R.V.I.S will take care of them and inform me if something happens." Jack answered.

"Always ready to help when you call upon me sir." J.A.R.V.I.S chimed in.

Sighing, Steve nodded. "Alright, I'll come along. But I don't have anything to wear."

Jack simply nodded and thumbed to the hallway behind him. "Don't worry about it. I left you something in your room. Go try it out." He said, Steve nodding and making his way to his room.

* * *

Jumping out of the GroundBridge, Jack and the now suited up Captain America, with his signature shield made their way through the abandoned city. Scanning the area while moving around, Jack could not find any sign of life around.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, scan the area for any sign of communication being sent out." Jack asked, while flying above the buildings roofs, to get a better view and to make sure that the coast was clear.

"I'm reading a two way feedback signal coming from the nearby inactive volcano tow klicks from your position sir. I also sense that Bulkhead is also nearby the same signal." J.A.R.V.I.S answered not two minutes later.

Nodding, Jack flew back to where Steve was. Looking at him again, Jack could not help but feel pride as he saw him in his updated uniform. Where before it was something common back in WWII, the improvements that he had made, made sure that Steve would last longer in a fight.

It was a simple navy blue, with a metal star emblazed in the chest area, with two more metal stripes along the shoulder area. The underarms were light grey, while his hands and forearms were covered with red gloves. Across his abdominal area were red and white stripes, with a belt filled with pouches of the same colour of the uniform. The pants were also the same shade of blue with his boots being the same colour as his gloves, all of this capped off with his navy blue helmet strapped to his head, with a large A letter shown on the front of it.

"Anything?" The super soldier asked.

Jack simply turned and pointed towards the volcano. "J.A.R.V.I.S found a signal being transmitted over there. He also found Bulkhead was also heading in that direction."

Steve nodded his head. "Right let's get going."

Before Steve could take a step forward, Jack held up his hand and started to hover above him. "If we want to catch up to him, you better grab hold and hang on tight."

"Wait, what are you-?" Steve tried to continue, only for Jack to grab him from under his armpits and hauling him up, started flying towards the signal.

It did not take long to find Bulkhead, who was following a green car driving into a tunnel. Jack dropped off Steve next to Bulkhead, who had heard them coming and waited for them at the tunnel entrance, before landing next t to Steve.

"You ok there Steve?" Jack asked.

Steve did not say anything, as he simply hunched over himself, his hands on his knees. "Never do that again." He stated standing up straight, wielding his shield.

"Noted." Jack said, grinning under his helmet.

Making their way through the tunnel, they kept their eyes sharp, should they be ambushed. They continued this way until they came across a large door. Noticing no mechanism to open the door, they realised that they would have to reveal their presence to M.E.C.H.

"Should we knock?" Jack asked, looking at the others.

Bulkhead simply turned his hands into his wrecking balls and punched the door until it crashed down, revealing a squad of armed men. "MARCO!" he shouted to the men as he punched the ground around them, sending them running. "You're supposed to say POLO!"

"What an explosive reception. We must be in the right place." Jack joked as he fired off his repulsors, while Steve threw his shield, knocking down enemies.

Moving forward mowing down M.E.C.H's defences, they quickly found themselves in a large room. It was mostly barren with only a few monitors on top of a walkway, and in the middle of the room lay Breakdown, who was strapped down with his chest piece open and missing his right optic. Bulkhead quickly undid the restraints and helped Breakdown off of the table.

"Why?" he questioned.

"Because it's what Autobots do." Bulkhead stated. "And also because I want to beat you in our rematch." He finished.

Suddenly an alarm started to blare out across the entire base. Jack turned to look at the two titans. "Let's get out of here."

"Can you run?" Bulkhead asked.

Breakdown simply turned his hand into his hammer and replied. "Decepticons don't run…we fight!"

"Yeah, just make sure to point it at M.E.C.H and not us." Bulkhead said.

* * *

Quickly making their way back from where they came, they managed to take a few more M.E.C.H soldiers until they exited the tunnel, only to be blinded by a bright light. Just as the light was there, it was gone. Once their eyes and optics adjusted from the flash of light, they noticed that they were surrounded, with cars and soldiers al around them pointing their weapons at them. While from above, attack helicopters were shining their spotlights on them.

"You got a plan for getting us out of here?" Breakdown asked.

"Yeah, we fight." Jack answered as he fired the fired the first shot by sending a repulsor blast to one of the cars, destroying it.

That was when everyone else started fighting. Bulkhead and Breakdown smashing and swinging their arms at the M.E.C.H agents, throwing them in disarray, while Steve ran around holding his shield up as cover from the bullets before throwing his shield at his attacks knocking them to the ground. He would then knock them out or engage in hand to hand combat if he was close enough. Meanwhile Jack was taking out the attack helicopters, dodging their fire as he did so. Firing his repulsors at the machine gun operator, throwing him out of the helicopter, he turned his attention to the pilots then fired at their controls, sending the helicopter spiralling down to the ground.

Flying out and doing the same to the others, Jack was about to help out Steve when he was from behind. Spiralling out of control he quickly regained control and stabilised and turned to see who had shot him. There in his own attack helicopter sat Silas.

Jack and Silas simply stared at each other for a full minute as the battle continued to take place below. At some unspoken agreement, both Jack and Silas started firing at one another, both dodging their opponent's fire and trying to outmanoeuvre each other. Jack fired of two repulsors blasts at the helicopters blades, sending it spiralling down to the ground. Landing on the ground hard, Jack marched all the way towards the wreckage of the helicopter, checking for life signs as he did so. He learned that the pilot was dead, but there was no sign of Silas, just as he about to move the wreckage out of the way, he was grabbed from behind and thrown across ground and landing at Bulkheads feet.

"You're not the only one with a suit Jack!" Silas shouted in his Iron Monger armour.

"You're going to pay Silas." Jack said as he got up and glared at the Iron Monger.

Shooting forward, Jack proceeded to beat down the gain Iron Monger with punches and kicks, only to be thrown back once again by a back hand by Silas. Stopping himself from landing on his back again, Jack started to fire off as many missiles as possible at the leader of M.E.C.H while also firing off repulsor blasts. The Iron Monger simply just stood there and took the damage expecting for nothing to happen, only to be caught off guard as he was thrown back from the force of Jack arsenal.

Jack saw his chance as Silas was on the ground and flew up and landed on the Iron Monger's chest, hard. Grabbing the chest area of the armour, Jack ripped open the suit expecting to see Silas in there, only to find it empty.

"Did you really think I would face you again Jack?" Silas taunted.

"Where are you Silas!?" Jack demanded.

Jack heard Silas laugh at him before answering. "It doesn't matter where I am. All you have to know is that I'm far from your reach. But you'll hear from me soon Jack, no need to worry about that. Oh and I left a present for you. Goodbye."

Suddenly the suit exploded sending Jack flying high into the air before landing extremely hard on the ground, causing a small crater to form around where he fell. The explosion and subsequent fall caused his suit to shut down, making him have to wait for it to reboot. Once it was operational, Jack slowly got up and looked at the flaming ruins of Silas' Iron Monger armour and the knowledge that he had escaped once again. In his rage Jack let out a scream of rage, letting just how upset he was that the man that caused him so much pain had escaped him once again.

Turning around, he saw Bulkhead, Breakdown and Steve take the last of the M.E.C.H agents. He scanned to see that most of them were unconscious or unable to escape. Hearing the sound of engines, they turned to see Optimus, Arcee, Bumblebee and Ratchet make their way towards them. Seeing this, Breakdown transformed and drove away. Bulkhead tried to stop him only for Steve to tell him to let Breakdown go.

The arriving Autobots arrived just in time to see Breakdown drive off. Transforming, Optimus came up to Bulkhead to speak. "Engaging the enemy on your own, even with Jackson and Captain Rogers as back-up, was even more foolish this time Bulkhead." Here Optimus paused before continuing on. "But I am very proud to see that you saw fit to rescue your rival. You have truly risen above yourself"

Bulkhead looked down before looking at the direction Breakdown drove off. "Yeah."

"Don't worry Bulkhead, you'll get your rematch someday." Steve said with a smile.

Hearing groaning everyone turned to see one of the M.E.C.H agents trying to crawl away, only to be stooped when Jack grabbed him by his uniform and lifted him up into the air. "Where's Silas?" he asked.

"I will never talk." the agent spat out.

"Suit yourself." Jack said dropping the man on his ass, before kicking him down with his back on the ground and keeping his boot on the agent's chest and adding pressure to it. "You want to talk now?"

"Never!" the man said.

Jack simply added more pressure until everyone heard a cracking sound. It at was that point that the man started to scream in pain. "Tell me and I'll stop." Jack growled out.

"NO!" the man screamed.

Jack just kept on crushing until they heard something break. Here the man screamed in absolute pain, his face contorted in agony under his mask. "TELL ME!" he shouted.

"OK! He will be at a nearby cement factory just outside of Jasper Nevada! That's all I know I swear!" the man screamed out before blacking out and going unconscious.

Releasing the man from his foot, Jack turned to look at the others, all of whom had a look of shock as they saw their human charge torture someone to gain information on their leader. Optimus looked at Jack disappointed, knowing how Jack would want revenge on his family's death and would go to extreme levels to get it. While he could understand it, he could not condone such acts.

"Jack. Was that truly necessary?" Optimus asked.

"No, but he had information that could have helped us deal with Silas sooner rather than later." Jack replied. "J.A.R.V.I.S, GroundBridge." He ordered.

* * *

Sighing, Jack looked at the mirror after taking a shower and saw his reflection. Looking at it, he could see faint some purple veins pulsing on his chest with a circle in the middle of his chest untouched, where his power source for his suits normally are. Looking down at it he could see the pulses getting brighter slowly every day. Looking at the mirror again he was shocked to see a metal face with a beard staring at him with deep purple eyes.

" **Soon you shall be my herald boy."** The being said.

Stumbling back in shock, Jack closed his eyes before opening them, noticing that the being was gone and he was staring at his reflection again. Shaking his head, Jack left the shower and changed to his sleepwear and went to bed.

If he had looked more carefully in the mirror he would have noticed that his irises had changed into the same purple colour as the beings, as well as notice that the Dark Energon in his safe was glowing brightly.

* * *

 **Did you expect something like that?**

 **If you have any questions or request leave them in the reviews. Also leave reveiws, so i know what your thoughts are on them. and if i'm getting better or worse. It really helps.**

 **Stay awesome!**


	18. MECH Strikes Back

**Hello!**

 **Sorry for the long wait time but i had exams to d and i had to think of what to write next.**

 **This takes place at the same time as Crisscross, Metal Attraction and Partners. So i shifted the events of those episodes to this one chapter. So all those episodes are happening at the same time.**

 **But now i'm back and on with the show!**

* * *

Chapter 18

Staring at the monitor, Jack continued to keep an eye on the place where the M.E.C.H agent said that Silas and the rest of M.E.C.H would be. For the past few days, there have been no activity in that place, nor the surrounding area, causing Jack to wonder if the agent had lied to him about their whereabouts. While that thought certainly crossed his mind, Jack knew that even if he did, he would still continue monitoring said area, should M.E.C.H try to occupy the space.

Sighing, Jack turned to his incomplete suit of armour, and got up. The armour was supposed to be a stealth suit, capable of infiltrating enemy bases without detection. It was made of a titanium gold plating and Cybertronian metal with retro-reflective panels, retro-reflective coating and an advanced donning system that was shared with all of his other suits. Unlike most of his other suits, the Mark VIII was very lightweight and therefor did not have any heavy artillery stored within the suit. It only had the standard hand repulsors and unibeam on his chest. It was mostly black with silver lining running across running across the chest and boots with the Mark VII branded on the left side of the chest.

The only thing left for the suit to be complete was the sonic dampening thrusters that would be equipped on its back. It would reduce the noise he would make when flew, making him almost silent when he infiltrates a base.

Turning his head to the right, Jack smiled at the VII War Machine armour.

After his fight with Megatron at the SpaceBridge, Jack learned that he needed to upgrade the suit to be able to stand up to Megatron and his forces. With that in mind he had went back to his old designs for the War Machine and made changes to the armour composition and weapons arsenal. At first Jack wanted the armour to be made of a Gold Titanium alloy and Cybertronian metal, but that was before his discovery of Vibranium. When he asked if he could obtain the metal from Fowler, he was not surprised when he could not get them and was about to go ahead with his plan, when the unexpected happened.

Wakanda had opened its borders and allowed for trade with its Vibranium in exchange for a voice to be heard to the world. After that it was a simple matter of obtaining the metal and using it. Now the armour made out of a combination of Gold Titanium alloy, Cybertronian metal and Vibranium, making it a very durable armour.

As for the weapons, Jack had placed two small machine guns on his forearms with a machine gun fixed on its back that can slide on to his shoulder. He also added several missile launchers in his shoulders. The suit also gave him a superhuman amount of strength, allowing him to throw someone as heavy as Bulkhead around like a rag doll with ease, and due to its added armour, he could take a lot more punishment, that however still had yet to be tested.

Right now Jack was waiting on news on what relic Arcee, Bulkhead and Steve were sent to retrieve. With the successful field test, Jack had cleared Steve for active duty.

Deciding to take a break, Jack got off from his chair and made his way to the main area where the GroundBridge was. Upon entering the area, he noticed that Ratchet was busy with his tools, while Optimus, Bumblebee, Raf and Miko were not around. Making his way upstairs and near the railing, Jack called out to Ratchet.

"Ratchet, where's Optimus and the others?" he asked.

"Well you know that Arcee, Bulkhead and Captain Rogers are out investigating that weird energy while Optimus and Bumblebee are on an Energon scouting mission. Raf headed back home because he got a call from his mother." Ratchet answered not turning from his work.

Jack simply nodded and was about to head back into his lab when his phone began to ring. Grabbing it from his pocket, Jack saw that Raf was the one calling him.

"Hello?" Jack answered.

"Jack, help me! M.E.C.H is at my house." Raf said on the other side.

"HEY! I found the target!" Jack heard from the other line before it went dead.

Jack's eyes widened, before hanging up his phone and running to the couch and grabbed his emergency backpack amour and ran for the GroundBridge while putting it on. "J.A.R.V.I.S! Open the GroundBridge to Raf's house!" he shouted as he slammed his hand on his chest and donning his armour.

* * *

By the time his faceplate slammed shut, the GroundBridge was open. Shooting forward and going through the GroundBridge, Jack exited in time to see two M.E.C.H soldiers dragging and unconscious Raf into one of their cars, before speeding off.

Just as he was about to follow them, he was shot out of the air by a rocket. Falling to the ground and slamming into it, Jack slowly got up and saw a squad of M.E.C.H soldiers pointing their weapons at him. Using his thrusters, Jack used the speed to punch the closest M.E.C.H agent in the face before grabbing his arm and swinging him around and throwing him and two of his fellow agents. He then started firing off his repulsors, knocking the soldiers down, while also beating down the others that he could reach.

Once the last M.E.C.H agent was down, Jack flew up into the air and scanned the area for anymore hostiles before calling J.A.R.V.I.S. "J.A.R.V.I.S scan for any M.E.C.H vehicles around Jasper."

"At once sir." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

While J.A.R.V.I.S was doing that, Jack started to fly above the town, on the lookout for the green car that belonged to M.E.C.H. A minute later, he received his answer from J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Sir, a green car, matching that of M.E.C.H's was just seen exiting the town and from its current heading I would say that it is on it's to the cement factory." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

"Any sign of Silas?" Jack asked as he sped towards the direction of the factory.

"No sir." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

It did not take long for Jack to reach the factory, and just in time to see the same green car that held Raf, also enter the factory. Deciding to wait until he learned where the other M.E.C.H agents were hiding, he decided to play it stealthy while also keeping an eye on them.

Landing on the roof of the factory, Jack watched as he saw the same two M.E.C.H agents from earlier carry Raf into the factory. Once they entered, Jack flew down to the ground and watched from around the corner as they stopped in front of a stack of wooden crates, before one of the agents pressed his hand on one of the crates, before the whole stack slid across the ground revealing a hidden elevator within. Once they had entered the elevator and the crates slid back into place, Jack made his way to the same crates, making sure to scan the area for traps and hidden cameras.

Stepping in front of the crates, Jack looked down to scan the crates to notice a hidden hand scanner on the top. Knowing that he had a very limited time to rescue Raf, Jack simply blasted the crates to pieces and stepped into the elevator, watching as it took him underground. As the elevator got lower, it revealed to him a hidden base under the factory, hidden from detection and the perfect place to launch an attack on Jasper. It would explain how M.E.C.H managed to attack Jasper so quickly.

Once the elevator hit the ground, Jack quickly hid behind a truck and saw just how large an operation M.E.C.H truly had. He could see a great deal of weapons ad vehicles around as well as a large garrison of soldiers going around the base. Jack knew he was running out of time, so he forego the need for stealth and started to destroy everything in the base, starting with the weapons and vehicles. As the base started to explode around him and alarms were blaring out, Jack continued to destroy the base while also scanning, trying to locate Raf.

It did not take long as he found the two agents running towards a large blast door that was slowly closing. Activating his thrusters and setting them at maximum, Jack raced towards the closing blast door, while also dodging the incoming fire from the M.E.C.H agents. Just as the door was about to close, Jack managed to squeeze through the last bit of opening before landing on the floor, only to notice that he surrounded on all sides by men in black combat suits with a patch on their left shoulder depicting a red skull with tentacles flowing out, much like a squid or octopus.

He then realized that it was the symbol of the group known as HYDRA, the same HYDRA that caused terror during World War II. Suddenly he heard clapping coming from above him. Looking up, Jack saw Silas standing on top of a walkway with Raf being held by one of his agents.

"I knew you would try and rescue your friend Jack." Silas said.

"Let Raf go Silas! Your fight is with me not him!" Jack shouted back, angry at the fact that he can't seem to keep the ones he cared about from being in danger.

"Oh no but I think that you are mistaken. You see I did not just kidnap the boy just to lure you here, but to also let you see what I'm going to do to him." Silas said smiling at him.

Jack cried out in anger and was about to fly up and save Raf when one of the soldiers fired at his back with enough force to knock him down. Two of the soldiers then grabbed his arms and held him up to his knees as another came forward holding a small metal disk. The person then placed it on his chest and pressed the button in the centre, causing his suit to deactivate and fold itself back into its backpack form. They then ripped the bag from him and tossed it aside.

"Oh and Jack, that's not all who we have." Silas spoke out.

Suddenly the door on the left of the walkway opened and out stepped a HYDRA soldier, following him was Miko, who was holding onto Anthony, with another HYDRA soldier just behind her. She was brought all the way next to Silas, who did not even turn to look at her.

"Let them go Silas. They have nothing to do with this, please. LET THEM GO!" Jack screamed as he struggled to break free of the soldiers grip.

Silas simply snapped his fingers and the soldier in front of him punched him extremely hard in the stomach, causing him to lurch forward in pain. The soldier then proceeded to beat down on him and every time Jack was about to fall face first on the ground the two men would pull him back up. This lasted for about five minutes, but to Jack it felt like an eternity.

By the time Silas snapped his fingers again, Jack had a busted lip and was bleeding for some of the bruises he received. When Jack looked up, he could see Raf and Miko crying as they looked on.

"I'm going to make you suffer Jack. Bring him to the holding cell." Silas said as he walked away.

* * *

Jack woke with a start.

As his eyes darted around, adjusting to the dim light in the room he noticed Silas standing next to his bed. When he tried to move his arms and legs, Jack realised that he was strapped down to the bed. Silas simply gave a cruel smirk before sitting down on the bed.

"You might be wondering where your friends are. Their safe, for now. But that can change Jack." Silas said softly.

"What do you want Silas?" Jack asked.

"I want many things Jack. One of them is to see you suffer." Silas said slowly. "After all you already lost your father and mother, now I'm going to take you friends from you."

"No don't." Jack croaked out.

"I'll start with the boy and I'll make sure you watch as he changes into something wonderful. Then I'm going to let some of the men have fun with the girl, and once she's broken I'll change her too." Silas said as he got a maniac glint in his eyes. "You will watch as I destroy everything you hold dear. Your home, your robot friends and when it is all said and done, when your life is nothing but ashes, then you have my permission to die." He finished.

"Why?" Jack asked.

"Because I can." Silas answered. "Your father was my friend, until he betrayed me. Ratted me out to the military when he learned what we were doing."

"All of this, for revenge?" Jack said.

"Revenge implies that I want to harm you in return for something you did to me. No Jack, this is not revenge. This is me repaying the favour." Silas said, before punching him in the face, knocking him out.

* * *

He did not know how long he was in here for, a day, a week, a month, but however long he did stay there was constant, and that was the beating he received from the men around the base. He hoped that Miko and Raf were unharmed. He wondered why the Autobots did not try and save them considering that J.A.R.V.I.S knew of his location, but he knew he could not rely on the Autobots to save them.

When the door to his cell opened, he expected to be grabbed and thrown to the wall for his usual beating, but instead they grabbed him by his arms and proceeded to drag him out of his cell and to another part of the base. This continued on for five minutes until they came into a room with a large chamber in the centre and scientists running around. He was dragged to a room filled with guards and a glass window facing the chamber, and in the front of the room sat Silas, with Miko and Anthony unharmed, but no sign of Raf.

"Ah Jack, so good of you to join us." Silas taunted, without even turning to face him.

Jack simply kept quiet and watched as the door outside opened to see Raf being brought in, but instead of joining them he was placed inside the chamber and then sealed inside.

"What's going on Silas?" Jack asked.

"We're going to try and recreate the super soldier formula that your good friend Rogers has in his blood." Silas said.

Jack said nothing as he stared at Raf, who looked absolutely terrified and was struggling to get out.

"Begin the operation doctor." Silas said into a microphone.

The lights were dimmed as green gas began to flood into the chamber. It did not take long for the gas to cover the whole of the chamber, making it impossible to see what was happening inside. Nothing happened for about a minute until a loud roar was heard, it was so loud that everything outside the chamber shook slightly from the vibrations caused. Then the glass from the chamber started to crack, with the cracks getting bigger, almost as if something was trying to get out.

Suddenly the glass shattered and out stepped a green giant.

It was bare, except for a pair of ripped jeans that strained at the force of trying to wrap around the giants legs. The green giant roared and started to rampage around the room, destroying equipment and throwing soldiers around like ragdolls when they tried to interfere.

Jack knew that that green giant was Raf.

"Quickly, contain Project HULK!" Silas ordered as he got up from his chair and left, leaving Jack and Miko to stare at the carnage outside.

Shaking himself, Jack used the distraction caused by Raf to knockout the closest soldier and taking his gun, before grabbing Miko. "Come on, we have to go!" he said.

"Not without Raf!" Miko cried out.

Jack simply nodded at her. "I know, but there's nothing we can do right now"

And so they ran out of the room, Jack shooting at any of the soldiers that tried to get in their way. As the destruction of the base continued caused by Raf, Jack saw an elevator and possibly a way out. Pulling Miko towards it, Jack quickly pressed the highest button the elevator and watched as Raf just smash through a wall before the doors of the elevator closed.

It did not take long for the elevator to reach the top. Once the doors opened, Jack saw the base also under attack by the Autobots, who were most likely here to rescue them. Just as Jack and Miko were about to run after them, the ground smashed open in front of them and out jumped Raf, who looked absolutely furious.

"Raf?" Jack asked as he kept his distance.

The green giant turned to look at him, eyes shining with rage and also fear. "Can you understand me?" Jack asked, to which Raf nodded slowly. "Can you change back?"

Raf nodded and then closed his eyes. Nothing happened for a minute before he began to shrink and change colour until he back to being himself, only his pants were too big for him, leaving naked. Taking off his t-shirt quickly, Jack wrapped it around Raf to hide his modesty before lifting Raf and carrying towards the Autobots.

"JACK! MIKO! BEEP!" Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee shouted when they saw the children.

Jack simply shook his head and asked for a GroundBridge.

* * *

Once they were all back at base, Jack had Raf change into some spare clothes that he had in his lab before having himself and Ratchet do a scan on Raf to see what had caused him to change. The results were incredible.

"Interesting. It seems that Raf has been subjected to extreme levels of gamma radiation." Ratchet said.

"Is that bad?" Arcee asked.

"Very much so." Jack answered. "But from what I have gathered it seems that the Super Soldier Formula actually managed to save him from dying by radiation poisoning."

"It also seems that the change he goes through triggers when he gets angry." Ratchet piped in.

Bumblebee beeped a few times, causing Ratchet to shake his head. "No Bumblebee, there does not seem to be a way to cure him. Unfortunately it seems that this Hulk will stay with Rafael for the rest of his life." He said sadly.

"I am sorry Raf. This is all my fault." Jack said.

Raf simply shook his head and gave Jack a small smile. "It's not your fault Jack, and I don't blame you for what happened to me."

Despite Raf's assurances, Jack did not think that he could actually forgive himself for letting Raf become this way.

* * *

 **So what did you guys think?**

 **Leave a comment and review in the reviews. and remember to stay aawesome!**


	19. Battle of New York Part I

**Another day. Another Chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 19

"Breathe Raf! Breathe." Jack said.

They were currently in his lab trying to help Raf control the Hulk. For the past week, whenever Raf has finished school he would come to the base and take meditation lessons Jack while also learning to change his form at will without destroying the base by accident. Raf was sitting on the ground, his legs crossed over one another while Jack would try and provoke him to see if Raf could control his emotions.

"Good. Slow, deep breathes. Clear your mind of all distractions." Jack said as he circled around Raf. "Now try and tap into the Hulk."

Raf took a deep breathe before clenching his fist and screwing his eyes tightly. Soon Raf started to slowly grow and change colour until he was just about 8 feet tall. Luckily the pants that Jack had provided for Raf would stretch along with him so that he would not need new pants every time he transformed.

"Raf?" Jack asked, stepping in front of the sitting giant.

"Yes?" Raf said in a deep and grizzled voice as he opened his eyes and stood up.

"Are you in control?" Jack asked stepping back a step to get a better view of Raf.

"Yeah I'm in control." Raf answered.

"How do you feel?" Jack asked.

Raf did not answer straight away, all he did was look at his hands, clenching and unclenching them. "Great! I feel strong!" he exclaimed.

Jack was about to coniine when his phone began to ring. Grabbing it, Jack saw that it was Agent Fowler, answering the phone Jack could hear the sounds of a helicopter, most likely on his way to the base.

"Hello." Jack said.

"Jack, its Fowler. Listen I'm on my way with two possible recruits for that initiative of yours. I'm sending you their files now and tell you more when I get there." Fowler said before hanging up.

Putting his phone back in his pocket Jack turned back to see Raf had changed back into his human form and started putting on his clothes. Once Raf was done, he was about to leave the lab when Jack stopped him.

"Raf. How would you like to help the Autobots and myself?" Jack asked.

Raf did not say anything as he thought about the question before looking back at Jack and nodding. "How?"

"With the Hulk." Jack answered. "Once we learn about what you can do, your weaknesses and upper limits, you could help us beat the Decepticons back."

"Would Optimus even agree to let me join?" Raf asked sceptically.

Jack was about to answer that when the door to his lab opened and in stepped Agent Fowler and two other people. One was a blond haired, blue eyed man in a black and purple uniform, with his right arm being totally covered unlike his left where it only had the sleeve. The man carried with him a quiver of arrows and a bow on his back. The other person on the other hand was a female with red hair and green eyes. She wore a tight-fitting black bodysuit that showed off her voluptuous body. She was armed with two batons on either side of her thighs and a hand gun strapped to her belt, while on her arms were two bracelets.

"I'll talk to you later Raf." Jack said, to which the boy nodded and left his lab.

Once Raf left, Fowler spoke up. "Jack I would like you to meet Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff, also known as Hawkeye and the Black Widow." He introduced.

Jack turned to them and inclined his head before turning back to Fowler. "Please have a seat. Would you like anything to drink?" he asked, making his way to the fridge.

"No thank you." Natasha said smiling at him.

"I'll have some black coffee if you don't mind." Clint asked. With Fowler nodding as well, indicating that he would like some as well.

Jack did just that as he started making the drinks and without turning, decided to ask them some questions. "So tell me Mr Barton, Ms Romanoff. Why did Fowler bring you here and why you?" he asked, setting the tray down on the table and grabbing his own drink.

Clint simply drank his coffee, so Natasha started first. "Well Mr Fowler asked us to come here because he believed that we were qualified for your project." She explained.

"And did he tell you what that project was?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow to Fowler, who seemed uncomfortable with Jack looking at him that way.

"No he did not." Natasha answered.

"Well let me tell you two then." Jack said before starting to explain. "The project is called the Avengers Initiative. The idea is to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they can become more. See if they can work together when we needed them to. To fight the battle we never could." Jack explained. "The question is, what are you capable of?"

"Well I'm experienced in many types of firearms, and am proficient in several martial arts and languages." Natasha explained.

"Speciality?" Jack asked.

"Infiltration and subterfuge." Natasha said quickly to which Jack nodded before turning his head to Clint.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I'm a damn good shot with a bow and I have a number of arrows that are useful for any situation." Clint answered.

Jack nodded and was about to ask them more questions when alarms began to blare around his lab and across the whole of the base. Running to his computer, he began to punch in a few commands before his screen showed him a video feed New York City with a beam of light shooting from the ground and into the sky where a massive hole in the sky was expanding and things were coming out of the hole.

"J.A.R.V.I.S what's going on?!" Jack demanded as he tapped into other video cameras to get a better angle on what was exiting the hole.

"Unknown sir. It's seems that the beam of light coming from Stark tower seems to be emitting the same kind of energy that came from the Cube you picked up from ice and is creating a wormhole." J.A.R.V.I.S explained.

"What!? How!?" Jack exclaimed. "What the hell is the Tesseract doing all the in New York?"

"Unknown sir." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

"Shit. Okay. The Autobots are fighting the Decepticons who trying to get their hands on a Data Cylinder, while Miko has most likely run off to try and help." Jack said muttering to himself the last bit with Miko. "Fowler! You said that the two of them would be good additions to the team, right?" he asked.

"Yeah." Fowler replied.

Jack smiled at his answer before turning to look at the two aforementioned people. "Well then Hawkeye, Black Widow. Time to see if you're truly up for it. Head to the main area with Fowler and wait or me there."

Once Fowler had left his lab with Clint and Natasha, Jack went to the middle of his lab and stood on a platform that begun to raise itself, revealing the War Machine Mark II Armour. The suit open and allowed Jack to enter in before closing around and activating its many functions. Leaving his lab and making his way to the main area, he saw Fowler explaining what was happening to Raf, Miko and Steve, who wore his uniform and had his shield at the ready, along with the Autobots, who had returned while he was changing.

"J.A.R.V.I.S open the GroundBridge in front of the building of Stark Tower." Jack said before turning to Clint and Natasha. "Ready?" he asked, to which they both nodded before going down the stairs and making their way to the now active GroundBridge.

"Jack!" two voices called out.

Turning his head, Jack saw Raf and Steve making their way towards him before stopping in front of him. "We're coming with you."

"Steve yes, but not you Raf. You're still too young and we don't even know what your limits are" Jack said quickly.

"You asked me earlier if I wanted to help the Autobots and you and I said yes. Now that the opportunity presents itself, you're going to just leave me here!" Raf asked, raising his voice at Jack.

"Yes! But only after we know what you're limits are Raf. I can't knowingly bring you into danger, if that danger is going to get you killed." Jack said, trying to explain to his young friend. "The reason I go out there, is so you don't have to. Now please, stay here."

Raf looked down onto the ground before sighing. "Fine."

Jack nodded before turning around and running into the GroundBridge with Clint, Steve and Natasha behind him.

* * *

Exiting the GroundBridge, Jack and the others saw the carnage that was happening and screams of people running from danger as these grey creatures armed with staffs were shooting at anything that over while flying around.

They were suddenly being shot at from across the bridge as a large squad of the creatures were running at them. Hearing shrieks from around him, Jack and the others turned to find that they were surrounded by the creatures. Shooting towards the ones running at them, Jack sent out a barrage of missiles that impacted the ground right in front of them, killing them instantly before turning around and firing of repulsors blast from above. Just as another wave was about to attack them, they were all struck down by bolts of lightning. Suddenly, landing in front of them was a muscular long haired blonde man, wielding a small hammer. He wore a black vest with silver circles around them, with a bright red cape flowing behind him.

"Who are you?!" Jack exclaimed, aiming his repulsors at the man.

"I am Thor. A prince from the realm of Asgard. I came as quickly as I could to warn your people of the danger that you are now facing." The man, Thor explained.

"Do you know what they are and who leads them?" Steve asked.

Thor looked down to the ground before sighing and looking back at them. "Aye, it is Loki, my brother who leads them. These creatures are called the Chitauri. They came looking for the Tesseract, a cube of immense energy and power." Thor explained.

"Right, we've got these Chitauri to deal with. Will you help us?" Steve asked.

"Aye, I will." Thor answered.

"Sir. There seems to be a large flying creature making its way down Fourth Avenue." J.A.R.V.I.S said, showing him a 3d map of where the creature was.

"We're going to have to turn it around. Cap, you think you guys can handle things down here?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Steve shouted back before bashing his shield onto one of the creatures.

Giving a small nod, Jack flew off into the city to find the creature and hopefully get rid of it before it caused more damage. Flying through Fourth Avenue, Jack saw that the creature was flying through the city, its large fins on its side crashing through the buildings, sending debris falling. Raising his right arm, Jack activating his high powered laser and fired it at the creature, only to realise that the creature had armour on its back and sides and that the laser had no effect. Increasing the power output from his laser Jack tried again, only to get the same results.

"Sir, we would lose all power before we even begin to leave any significant damage on the armour." J.A.R.V.I.S said.

"Right then, looks like we're going to have lure him in." Jack said as he circled around the next few buildings and sent multiple flares in front of its face, getting its attention. "Great we got its attention. What the hell was step two?" Jack asked rhetorically as he shot forwards, the creature chasing after him.

Flying through the streets of New York, Jack keeping the attention of the creature on him when he heard Steve call him.

"Jack, its Steve. Raf, he's here." Steve said, causing Jack to almost stop himself mid-flight and be swallowed by the creature behind him. "And so are the Autobots."

"Fine, tell the Raf to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." Jack said, banking right past a building and flying towards where the others were.

Putting him thrusters at maximum to keep from being swallowed, Jack saw the Autobots fire their weapons at the creature, only for it to be unaffected. Seeing his HUD zoom in, Jack saw Raf transform into the Hulk and cock his fist back, just as Jack flew over them and the creature had a face full of Hulk's fist, causing the creature to tilt forward and was going to crush the others. Firing a rocket at the creature's top, the rocket exploded, making the creature blow into several pieces.

Forming a circle around each other keeping an eye on their surroundings, while the Autobots did the same. The shrieks of the Chitauri were heard as they continued watch them until Natasha got their attention.

"Guys, we've got a problem." Natasha said, pointing to the large wormhole in the sky, where several others of the same flying creature were spewing out from.

"Call it Jack." Steve said, not taking his eyes away from the wormhole.

"Alright, until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof." Jack said pointing to the building next to them. "Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Thor, you've got to bottleneck that portal, if not deal with as many of those flying creature as you can. Natasha, Steve, you're on ground control, keep the fighting here and away from the civilians." Jack ordered, before turning to the Hulk. "Hulk, smash." He said, causing Hulk to give a toothy grin before jumping away.

Turning towards Optimus, Jack began to address them. "Optimus, you and the Autobots will form a perimeter, anything that gets three blocks out, you turn it back or turn it to turn it to ash."

"Understood Jack, and good luck." Optimus replied before him and the others transformed as well and driving off.

Jack watched them go before grabbing Clint. "Better clench up Legolas." And flying up to the roof of the building and placing him up there.

* * *

 **Did you enjoy it? if so leave a review and have an awesome day!**


	20. Battle of New York Part II

**A short chapter. Enjoy**

* * *

Chapter 20

Strafing to the side to dodge a blast from the Chitauri, Jack continued to make sure that the Chitauri did not attack the civilians. Turning right, he led the Chitauri forces chasing him to where Optimus was stationed, making sure to keep the civilians safe, while also taking down as many of the enemy forces as he can.

"Optimus, I'm bringing in some of the Chitauri in. Your 12'oclock." Jack stated, flying forwards towards Optimus.

"Understood Jack." Optimus replied.

Passing overhead, Jack made sure to spin around and fire away with his machine guns at the Chitauri that Optimus could not stop. Once all them were destroyed, Jack went back to where the other Avengers were and made to help them, destroying other Chitauri that he passed by. Seeing Steve surrounded and having some trouble with the Chitauri, Jack blasted forward and took out some with his repulsors before landing and firing a constant repulsor beam at Steve's shield. Steve took the blast and used his shield as a mirror to focus the beam at the Chitauri on one side, with Jack's shoulder machine gun firing on the other.

Once all the Chitauri were dead or retreated on Steve's side, Jack was about to go and help the others when he saw two of the Chitauri chariots pull a passenger with them. Most likely this Loki that Thor had spoken about. Hoping to take out the head of the snake, Jack flew up and started firing at the chariots. Destroying one of the chariots and blowing up the passenger seat, Jack saw the leader fall into the STARK Tower, then not a minute later, the Hulk jumped in.

Jack watched as the Hulk stopped when Loki seemed to have said something, only to grab him by the leg and proceed to slam him into the floor multiple time like an angry child throwing his toy around. When the Hulk was done, Loki was in a crater unmoving, with Hulk walking away, a smile on his face before proceeding to jump back into battle.

"Please tell me you got that J.A.R.V.I.S?" Jack asked, speechless.

"I did indeed sir." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

"Good." Jack said, before hearing an explosion from his left side. Looking in that direction, Jack saw a large contingent of Chitauri heading in that direction.

Flying towards them, Jack saw that the Chitauri were trying to get past the Autobots, and were failing horribly. But knowing how persistent the Chitauri were, Jack knew that the Autobots would not last long if the Chitauri were to go at them in full force. Blasting a few with his repulsors and machine guns, Jack managed to take out a majority of them and was about to destroy the rest when he was thrown sideway by something slamming into him.

Stabilizing himself, Jack saw that it another one of those flying creatures from earlier. Knowing that its outer shell was extremely tough and that nothing he had would even leave a dent, Jack knew that he would have to take it down from the inside. Flying away from the creature first, Jack made sure that he had put some distance from the creature before doing a 180 and shot forward towards the creature, preparing a barrage of missile as he did so. The creature opened its jaw, letting Jack fly in and fire his missiles inside. Once the last of his missiles had been fired, Jack fired of his repulsor in front of him and blew the back of the creature wide open, allowing him to exit the creature and fall to the ground.

Getting up, Jack was about to head back into battle when he was slammed backwards by a shot from one of the Chitauri. Looking up, Jack saw that he surrounded by Chitauri forces, all aiming their weapons at him. Getting up slowly, Jack reached behind him and pulled out a cylindrical device. It was a prototype lightsaber that he had installed at the back of the suit should he find himself surrounded and in close quarters. Unfortunately due to being a prototype, Jack could only use it once and had no way keep the saber stable before it exploded.

The lightsaber was made of Cybertronian metal and using a small Energon crystal to power the blade. Despite its name, the blade was actually superheated plasma that could, like the movies it was based on, cut through just about anything. With that in mind, Jack activated the blade and rushed at the Chitauri forces, cutting and slicing his way through the ever increasing forces that seemed to target him as the biggest threat. While he used lightsaber to deal with the Chitauri forces up close, the machine gun on his back was shredding the Chitauri forces that were further away, making sur he would not be blindsided by anyone.

"Jack, you've got a missile heading your way!" Fowler's voice screamed into his ear.

"How long?" Jack asked as he beheaded a Chitauri.

"3 minutes." Fowler replied. "The payload would be enough to wipe out half of Manhattan."

"J.A.R.V.I.S put everything we have in the thrusters!" Jack ordered as he pressed another button on the lightsaber, activating the self-destruct button.

"I just did sir." The AI replied.

Blasting his way through the city of Manhattan, Jack raced to intercept the missile before it could blow up, failing that, he would move into the wormhole. Leaving the city and above the water, Jack saw on his HUD everything he needed to know about the missile.

"Can anyone hear me? I can shut it down. I repeat, I can close the portal!" Natasha's voice sounded out.

"Do it!" Steve ordered, only for Jack to belay that order.

"No wait!" Jack said, as he stopped himself and flew above a bridge and raced towards the missile.

"Jack these things are still coming." Steve said, trying to convince his friend to allow for Natasha to close the portal.

"I've got a nuke incoming, and I know just where to put it." Jack said as he managed to grab hold of the underside of the missile.

"Jack, you know that's a one way trip." Steve said.

Jack said nothing as he and the missile continued its path towards STARK Tower. "Sir, shall I try Miss Nakadai?" J.A.R.V.I.S asked.

"Sure why not." Jack said as he heard Miko's ringtone.

Seeing as he was about to hit the tower, Jack started to push the missile up allowing for him to just barely graze the building. Once he had cleared the building and was heading for the portal, Jack once again used his thrusters to fly even faster, to allow for the momentum to speed up the rocket. Entering the portal, Jack's eyes widened as he saw a massive ship looming above him, with hundreds of warships all ready for the invasion. Letting the missile go, the last thing Jack saw as his suit powered down was a powerful weapon being fired at him.

* * *

The sound of machines beeping was the first thing that Jack heard as he woke up. Then, as his eyes opened and the bright lights shined down upon him, Jack could also see that he was in a hospital room. Looking around the room, Jack saw that his armour was in pieces near the window, badly damaged and missing its arms and legs. Hearing some deep breathing, Jack looked down to see Miko with her head over her arms, sleeping. Wanting to shake her up, Jack tried to reach over to Miko's shoulder only to realise that he could not even feel his arms, nor his legs.

Panicking, Jack tried to move his legs, only to feel two stumps move instead. Breathing deeply, Jack wiggled enough for the blanket to slip off his body and Jack nearly had a heart attack at what he saw. His legs were completely amputated. Looking to where his arms would normally be, Jack also could see that they were also amputated.

* * *

 **Sorry about the short chapter. Anyway leave a review and have an awesome day**


	21. Reborn and Reforged

**Another day, another chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 21

 _The sound of machines beeping was the first thing that Jack heard as he woke up. Then, as his eyes opened and the bright lights shined down upon him, Jack could also see that he was in a hospital room. Looking around the room, Jack saw that his armour was in pieces near the window, badly damaged and missing its arms and legs. Hearing some deep breathing, Jack looked down to see Miko with her head over her arms, sleeping. Wanting to shake her up, Jack tried to reach over to Miko's shoulder only to realise that he could not even feel his arms, nor his legs._

 _Panicking, Jack tried to move his legs, only to feel two stumps move instead. Breathing deeply, Jack wiggled enough for the blanket to slip off his body and Jack nearly had a heart attack at what he saw. His legs were completely amputated. Looking to where his arms would normally be, Jack also could see that they were also amputated._

Jack wanted to scream.

His arms and legs were amputated! Just how much damage did he sustain to warrant amputation?! Taking a deep breath, Jack sighed as he placed his head back onto the pillow and thought back to what he had seen before blacking out. Hundreds of warships about to descend upon the Earth, and they had no means to defend themselves against such an overwhelming force. Despite the Avengers, the human race just did not have the technology to combat against an invasion. Even the Autobots would be hard pressed to combat such a force, and they are already outnumbered and outgunned due to Megatron.

Groaning, Jack just sank his head deeper into the pillow and tried to think of a way to replace his missing limbs.

Suddenly the door opened and in stepped a nurse, carrying a clip board, not noticing that he was awake. Clearing his throat, Jack watched with no small amount of amusement the nurse jumping in fright, nearly throwing the clipboard into the air. The woman quickly calmed down and turned to look at him.

"Good evening." Jack greeted.

Clearly the nurse was not expecting for him to be in such a calm mood. "Uh yes, good evening Mr Darby. How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Well apart from having my arms and legs amputated and not knowing what day it is, I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking." Jack drawled, amused to see the woman giggle at his attempt at being funny.

"Well it's the 23rd of March. You've been out for an entire week. Your friends have been worried about you." The nurse explained.

"And where exactly am I?" Jack asked.

"You're in STARK Towers Medical Wing, Mr. Darby." The nurse answered. Jack nodded before looking at Miko, which the nurse noticed. "She's been here the whole time. Said she wouldn't leave you no matter what."

"Nnnggg…What time is it?" Miko asked, blinking her eyes as she tried to wake up.

"It 5:20 in the afternoon. On the 23rd of March if you must know" Jack said, whistling at the end.

The reaction was instantaneous, Miko looked up at Jack so fast, he would not be surprised if she had whiplash. She then got up quickly, like a child on a sugar rush and gave him hug.

"Oh my god Jack! You're okay!" Miko exclaimed.

"Yes well, as okay as I can be." Jack said.

"I'll just leave you to your privacy." The nurse said as she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

"I saw what had happened on the TV. I saw you go through the hole and then fall out soon after. When the GroundBridge opened and the Autobots and the others came through and you weren't with them, I thought…." Miko said, stopping herself as tears began streaming from her eyes.

"How is everyone?" Jack asked, hoping to stay clear of the subject and wishing he could wipe away her tears.

"They're doing well. After that whole invasion, The Autobots had to fight off the Decepticons from getting their hands on some sort of data cylinder. Turns out that the cylinder actually contained a formula on how to create Synthetic Energon." Miko explained. "Unfortunately, when the cylinder was activated, it shot the information into Bulkheads brain and started to slowly reprogram him. We lost the information when Knockout and Breakdown nearly killed Bulkhead, but he's still alive."

"That's good news at least." Jack said. "Anything else?"

"Well after we lost the information, whatever Bulkhead had already written was being put together by Ratchet, to see if he could complete the formula. Unfortunately when he tested one of the prototypes on himself in caused him to lash out at the Decepticons and even tried to fight Megatron himself. Luckily, the effects did not last that long and the Autobots even managed to get a massive amount of Energon thanks to ratchet finding a large mine that was relatively untouched." Miko finished explaining.

Just as Jack was about to ask about something else, the door opened again to let in a handsome man with a goatee and a suit. He smiled when he saw Jack and Miko and walked in front of Jack's bed. Jack and Miko instantly recognized that the man standing in front of them was none other than Tony Stark himself.

"I see that our hero has awoken." Stark said.

"Good afternoon Mr. Stark." Jack greeted.

Stark put one of his hand up and said. "Please, call me Tony."

"Alright Tony." Jack said slowly, not sure why the man would even allow for them to call him by his first name.

"The people of New York city, myself included, owe their lives to you and your friends for helping to save the city from that invasion last week. If there is anything that I can help you with, then all you have to do is ask." Tony said, shocking to two teenagers.

Jack was silent as he thought about Tony's offer. He turned his head to look at Miko, who was staring at him in worry before looking down at himself, specifically his amputated arms and legs. Nodding to himself, Jack looked back up at Tony.

* * *

A week later, after Jack had been discharged from the medical wing and brought back to the Autobot base in a wheelchair, he was told about how the world now knows of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. Jack knew that it was going to happen, ether when Megatron decides to attack a city or he reveals himself to the world, neither of which were good scenarios. Currently Jack was in his lab with his computer showing him blueprints on what would be his new arms and legs.

After Jack had returned, he immediately had J.A.R.V.I.S use one of his suits arms and legs as a temporary replacement for his arms and legs until he had finished his new ones. Unfortunately with the loss of his arms, it meant that he would not be able to call on his armour anymore, and thus he had to rely on telling J.A.R.V.I.S what he wanted to do.

"While the weapons on the arms would need to be adjusted without a power source, I say we increase the reaction time of the appendages." Jack said thinking and planning.

"While that might help if you were in a situation dealing with hand to hand combat sir, to have the reaction speed you're speaking of would require you to have a microchip to be planted in your brain." J.A.R.V.I.S said showing Jack where the chip would be placed.

Jack grimaced at the image. "Well the last thing we want is to make me a vegetable." Jack said, humor in his voice.

"That would indeed be tragedy sir." J.A.R.V.I.S said, mirth somehow in his voice.

Jack snorted before looking at the numbers concerning his limbs and frowning.

Another week would pass before Jack was finally finished with his new limbs, with the assistance of tony Stark, who he had asked to help him with the meticulous work of making sure that everything would go according as planned. While the weapons of the arms would not be worked in until later, Jack had made sure that it could dish out a ton of force to compensate for the lack of weapons.

The arms and legs were made of the same combination of metals as his War Machine Mark II armour was made of. It was all black that was shaped like the muscles of each appendage. The hands on the arms all had five fingers, much like a human hand, while the feet on the legs did not have any toes, in fact it looked like the toes were welded together to shape a shoe. Next to the appendages, were what looked like two lenses you would find on a black sunglasses. The two lenses would be attached around his eyes and be retractable as it would be a replacement to his helmet.

Ratchet, who had taken an interest in the process of Jack's new limbs wanted to help in some way. Unfortunately with his large size, there was not much he could help with except learn and monitor. However, when Ratchet asked how he was going to control the limbs, Jack said that he would have a chip in his head that would do so. To do that, Jack had to go through hours of surgery with just Tony doing the hard labor and Ratchet guiding him. Once the limbs were attached to Jack and the chip in his head and lenses around his eyes fixed, Jack had to be sedated for a full day to allow the limbs and chip to be integrated into his body and make sure no complications would suddenly arise.

* * *

Waking up slowly, Jack opened his eyes to see himself looking up to the ceiling of the base. Looking around him, Jack saw that his new arms were attached to him and that when he tried to move them to test their reaction time, he saw that it was almost as if he never lost arms in the first place. Sitting up and moving the blanket that covered his lower body and new legs, Jack also saw that there was no complications when attaching his legs. Swinging off the bed and placing his two feet on the floor, Jack took a deep breath and stood on his new legs, not feeling any sudden imbalance or vertigo.

Taking a small step forward, Jack slowly made his way to the opposite side of the room and then back to his bed. Nodding to himself, Jack got dressed and made his way to the training room to test out his new limbs.

Entering the room, Jack saw that the room was not empty and that Steve Natasha and Clint were each training at one of the stations. Steve was lifting weights, Natasha was running an obstacle course while Clint was testing his accuracy with both stationary and moving targets. When he had entered the room, they each stopped what they were doing and made their way to him.

"Jack!" they all called out.

Once they were all in front of him and they saw his new limbs, they smiled and asked how he was doing.

"Well I'm doing alright, and I came here to test out my new limbs to see just what I can do." Jack answered while making his way to the obstacle course.

Once he was at the start line, Jack breathed in a deep breath before shooting forward, quickly vaulting over the low wall, then sliding under a low gap and then running up the slope. Once at the top of the slope, Jack saw that he would have to jump across a few platforms. Running on adrenaline, Jack just jump forward aiming for the first platform, but instead passed it and landed on the second platform instead and from there just continued jumping until he reached the end. The whole thing took less 4 minutes to complete.

Jumping down onto the ground, Jack looked at the others and saw that many of them looked shocked that he had managed to beat the course under four minutes. Shrugging his shoulders, Jack went to the weights and started lift each of the lifts one by one, increasing the weights every time he finished ten repetitions on both arms, then on each arm. After ten minutes of this, he got bored of the weights and left the training room to see about the weapons system he had planned, as well as to see how well his HUD feature would work.

Entering his lab, Jack immediately went to his computer and began to work on some the designs on the new weapons he would have and perhaps some new features, like the ability to fly, much like how he could when in his armour. Jack knew that he could not have any repulsors without any power source, but that said nothing of blasters much like the Autobots and Decepticons use. Drawing out plans, Jack had to think of a way to fire his weapon since he did not have an infinite amount of Energon all the time. It was a good thing he learnt a great deal about Cybertronian biology or he would not be able to understand how they would work.

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 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to leave a review and have an awesome day!**


	22. Upgrade and Training

**I'M BACK!**

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Chapter 22

Checking the process of the Energon, Jack made sure that the correct amount was being inserted into the vial. Already he had ten vials in storage and ready to be used when he got the weapons finished. Speaking of weapons, he already begun designs on what they would be and their properties. Essentially the forearms and hands would transform into a blaster that was shaped much like Optimus' and would have a vial in the blaster already inserted that would act as a magazine for the bolts, which would hold up to a thousand rounds before depleting. The blaster had three settings in it, the standard normal blaster fire rate, a rapid fire mode and the heavy bolt.

The standard rate of fire could fire a single shot every time he thought of firing is blaster. The rapid fire mode was special in that when he would activate it, the barrel of the blaster would change to look like that of a minigun. It would be able to fire 500 bolts in two minutes before the blaster would overheat. Finally the heavy bolt would allow him to charge up his entire magazine into a single destructive shot that would obliterate anything standing in its path. With a charge time of 15 seconds the bolt would shred through even reinforced a Cybertronian with Vibranium armour.

Other weapons included a sword made of pure Vibranium and Cybertronian, making the weapon very difficult to break. The sword was simple in its design in that it had a black hilt and a deep shade of grey to the blade, the sword would be strapped to his back. He would also have a shield that would come with the sword and that it would be on the top of his left arm covering his entire left forearm. When the shield was not activated it would resemble that of twin blaster barrels that would reach about halfway up his hand, indeed it could fire off some shots whether the shield was active or not. When the shield was activated, the plating would rotate in a semicircle around the barrel of the gun, the colour of the shield was also black with a silver outline on certain parts.

In his legs, there were several bombs and grenades that could be used when the situation called for it. There were some that could incapacitate an enemy with knockout gas, or a smoke grenade. His favourite was the charge grenade, which had ten levels of explosive damage. Level one would simply let out a small explosion that would attract anyone while level three is strong enough to shatter concrete and level ten had the most destructive power. It was essentially a thermal imploder that when detonated caused a large dome to spread in a 2 metre radius before collapsing in on itself and exploding, destroying everything within its blast radius. It was only to be used in large open battlefields and not something to be used in a closed environment.

His legs were also equipped with a propulsion boosters that would give him flight. An Energon cell was used as the power source, which could sustain his ability to fly for at least four hours if he didn't push the boosters too far.

He was not only creating his weapons but also a new armour that was flexible yet also durable. To that end he designed an entire new armour that only protected his body and waist and upper thigh area as well as design a new helmet. The helmet was going to be mostly black with a gold outline that would surround where the lenses would be then spread into a three pronged crescent that would reach to the sides of the helmet with the centre prong in the middle of the helm. Behind the middle of the centre prong was another golden crescent.

The helmet would be magnetically sealed along with the rest of his suit to a black body glove that would go over him. The seal would help him should he ever have a need to go into space, the armour and glove making sure to keep his body safe from the vacuum of space. The actual body armour was going to be black with the chest area being gold to match the helmet as well as a small black Autobot symbol on the right side of the chest.

Right now the suit and weapons would be done by the end of the week if there weren't any interruptions.

"Sir, Miss Nakadai is just outside the door. Should I let her in?" J.A.R.V.I.S asked.

"Let her in." Jack answered as he took the vail filled with Energon and screwed the capon before placing it in storage before repeating the process again with a new vial.

"Hey Jack, what are you doing today?" Miko asked as she entered the lab.

"Pouring Energon into a vial, while also fabricating the designs for my new suit and weapons." Jack answered as he capped another vial and placed it in storage before restarting the process.

Turning her head, Miko noted a bunch of tools and blueprints on a large workbench nearby. Making her way over, she took a closer look at the blueprints and her eyes nearly bulged out of her eye sockets. Even though she did know that much about engineering, even she knew that these designs were a little on the overkill side. Turning back to Jack she saw him place another vial in storage before closing the door and shutting down the Energon processor.

"Compensating?" She asked, holding up the blueprint that had the weapons.

"For what?" Jack asked, turning towards her.

"I don't know Jack. Ever since you got back from the Chitauri Invasion, you've been different. Throwing yourself into you lab even after you got your arms and legs back and now this. Are you ever going to stop?" she asked.

Sighing Jack came up to her and took the blueprint from her and placed it back onto the table, before turning to look at her. "I can't stop Miko, I just can't."

"Why?" she asked, pleading with her boyfriend.

"I already lost my parents to Silas, I almost lost you as well. I can't lose anyone else anymore. Even if I have to throw myself into my work, then so be it." Jack explained to her.

"Just make sure you don't lose yourself in the process. I'd hate to be the one to drag you out of the fire." She said as she kissed his cheek and made her way out of the lab.

Watching her go, Jack could not help but worry that Miko was right and that he was throwing himself into his lab way too much. He quickly dismissed that idea, he knew what he was doing and he had to make sure that everything was going to work. He'll keep them all safe, even if they themselves don't see it.

* * *

By the end of the week, Jack was ready to test out his weapons and capabilities. With that said, he made his way to the training room and towards the simulator. Making his way to the console, he had the holograms be moving and taking cover, almost as if it were an actual firefight. Transforming his hands into his blasters and snapping his lenses, which also activating his HUD, took aim and at the closest target and fired.

The effect was immediate as the other targets fired back at him. Dodging, ducking and weaving, Jack quickly returned fire, taking down two more holograms as he ran across the shooting range quickly sprinting to the closest hologram to him and gave a sharp jumping knee to the face before rolling forward and kicking the one in front of him a sharp kick to the gut, sending the hologram flying backwards and hitting the wall. Rolling to the side and getting to his feet quickly, Jack dodged one of the enemies blast while simultaneously firing off one of his and taking the hologram down.

Taking in his surroundings, Jack noted that there were five more holograms, each one of them aiming their weapons at him while also making sure to be near cover. Two of them were to his right, with another two in front of him and the final one was at the back to his right. Knowing that he had to be quick, Jack sprinted forwards quickly and jumped forward, slamming his knees in the faces of the front two and while in the air, fired off a single shot to the head of target on the right before rolling on the ground and firing at the final two targets to his left.

Getting to his feet, he transformed his blasters back to their original form before letting out a deep breath. Walking towards the console, he was about to enter the next program when he heard clapping behind him. Turning around, he came face to face with Steve.

"That was pretty impressive Jack." He stated, making his way towards Jack.

"Thanks Steve." Jack replied, before turning back to the console and inputting in some new commands before activating the commands.

Immediately twelve holograms appeared, all of them armed with different weapons, such as bats, assault rifles and shock sticks. Making his way back into the simulator, Harry took stock of his surrounding and where his enemies were. Deciding to make the first move, he sprinted up to the first hologram and gave jumping spinning kick to the chest area, sending the hologram flying. Immediately, three of the other holograms, one armed with a baseball bat and the other two with shock sticks came charging at him. The hologram with the bat came at him first, going for a backhand swing.

Grabbing the bat before it could hit him with one hand, he punched the hologram in the face, taking the bat with him before using said bat to knock the hologram to the ground with a hard upward swing to abdominal area. The other two holograms with shock sticks came running at him. Using a running start, Jack jumped over both of them and then, while in mid-air grab onto them and throw them forwards as he landed on the ground.

Hearing the sound of a gun being cocked and ready to fire, Jack turned to find the furthest hologram about to open fire at his position. Knowing he does not have much time, he quickly dashes forward, while also using his boosters on his back to give him some extra speed and make it to the gunman. Using his elbow he gave a sharp strike to the face while also using his free hand to grab the rifle by the barrel and yank it away from the hologram before using it like a bat by swing the rifle by the barrel to hit the hologram in the underside of the chin.

Turning around, Jack saw one of the holograms charging at him. Jumping up in time to avoid the charge, Jack then sprinting towards the closest two holograms and proceeded to punch the one on the left in the face with a hard right hook, and then catch the hologram and twist his entire body to swing the hologram to slam it into the other sending them both crashing to the floor.

He was suddenly grabbed from behind by his waist and swung to the side where he saw two more holograms charging at him with bats in their hands. Raising his legs and giving to hard push kicks to the sternum, Jack then proceeded to slam the underside of his arms to the side of the holograms head repeatedly until it let him go. Once he was released he grabbed the hologram from behind him and tossed him over his head and towards the two other holograms. Looking around him, he noticed that there were four more holograms left to deal with, two of them armed with assault rifles, while one was holding up a bat and the last was holding onto a large riot shield.

Sprinting forwards and giving a jumping knee to the hologram with the bat, Jack grabbed the bat while in the air and rolled forwards before throwing the bat straight at one of the two gunman while also moving towards the other. Grabbing the arm of the hologram and pushing it upwards so that the rifle was not aimed at him, Jack then proceeded to punch the hologram repeatedly in the gut before throwing it at the one with the riot shield, who had raised it as soon as it saw the flying body.

Using the body as a distraction, Jack sprinted just behind the flying body before jumping up and slamming his fist onto the shield, causing a fist sized dent to be shown on the shield. Grabbing the sides of the shield while the hologram was rattled, Jack snatched it away and proceeded to use the flat side of the shield to slam it into the face of the hologram.

With the last hologram defeated, the simulation was deactivated.

Walking out of the simulator, Jack made his way to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of cold water and begun to drink it. Steve, who had stayed to watch Jack train, made his way towards him.

"Impressive. You're hand to hand combat is getting better, as well as your reaction time." Steve said.

"Thanks Steve." Jack replied as he finished the bottle and threw it into the bin.

"C'mon, Optimus called a meeting with the others. Said something about an important event concerning the planet." Steve said as he led Jack to the main area.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review on your thoughts and remember...Stay Awesome!**


	23. One Shall Fall Part 1

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 23

Walking in with Steve, Jack noticed that everyone, including the Avengers were here. After the battle of New York, the Avengers decided to stay in with the Autobots, lending their assistance whenever they could. The only person not with them was Thor, who Steve told Jack, that he had to bring Loki back to Asgard for trail, and has not been seen since. Walking up the stairs, Jack made his way to the couch and sat next to Miko and listened as Optimus began to speak.

"And it was written in the covenant of Primus that when the 47 spheres align, a perpetual conflict will culminate upon a world forged from chaos, and the weak shall perish in the shadow of a rising darkness." Optimus recited as he showed said 47 spheres on the display.

"No skies raining fire?" Arcee asked sarcastically.

"Goes without saying. It is a doom prophecy after all." Ratchet replied.

"I say it's a lot of hooey." Bulkhead said, inputting hi own opinion on the subject matter.

"I'd always assumed the ancients were referring to our home planet, but being that Cybertron has been dark for eons….." Ratchet left that statement to hang.

"And considering what has befallen this planet since Megatron's arrival here…." Optimus stated.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We've known about these superstitions for ages and never gave them a second thought." Bulkhead stated.

"So why all the ominous rumblings now?" Arcee asked, hands on her hips.

"It is because the planetary alignment to which the prophecy refers is nearly upon us." Optimus answered.

"And it would seem that end point…..is Earth." Ratchet concluded.

That seemed to get everyone's attention. "Uh…crazy coincidence, r-right?" Bulkhead asked, clearly worried and nervous at the same time.

"How long are we talking?" Arcee asked.

"A few days at most." Ratchet answered.

"However unsettling this revelation may be, I am more concerned about those who might believe that the prophecy speaks to them alone." Optimus stated as he gave a long hard look at the galaxy wide map.

"This 'conflict' Optimus, do you know what that means?" Steve asked.

"Unfortunately I do not Captain Rogers. However, Megatron would take this as a sign to escalate our conflict to unspeakable levels." Optimus answered.

" _ **My time is of awakening is nearly upon us Herald."**_ A deep voice said in his mind.

Groaning, Jack rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, not knowing that they had shined a deep purple for a split second. Feeling a hand grab his arm, he looked to his side and saw Miko looking at him worried. Nodding to her, Jack just gave a small smile before getting up quietly and heading towards his lab without anyone besides Miko noticing that he gone.

As he walked through the empty hallway, Jack started to stagger and had to lean on the wall for support.

" _ **Do not try to fight me my Herald. You will be the one to sow chaos within the ranks of these Autobots."**_ The voice said.

" _Get out of my head! I was controlled once, and I will not allow it to happen again!"_ Jack shouted in his head.

" _ **You're struggles amuse me my Herald but it will all be for naught."**_ The voice replied.

" _WHO ARE YOU!?"_ Jack screamed in his head.

This time the voice did not answer, leaving Jack mentally exhausted and fatigued. Yet as he was about to continue to stagger to his lab, he was suddenly blasted with an image in his mind of an erupting volcano spewing out not lave but rather huge chunks of Dark Energon as well as a victorious Megatron standing over a beaten Optimus and about to stab him through the spark.

With the vision ending, Jack crumpled to the floor and broke into a cold sweat. Taking in deep breaths, Jack tried to get his bearings back in order but the image that he just saw just kept staying in his mind. He then remembered the other dreams he had so long ago that he was almost afraid that it was what was going to happen. Groaning he pushed himself up from the ground and staggered towards his lab.

Entering his lab, he quickly went to his safe and entered the password. Opening the safe, he saw the large crystal that sat in there for study shining brightly. Grabbing the crystal he held it in his hand and watched as the crystal seemed to pulse with an inner light. Ever since he had brought it back with him, he had started to dream of nothing but destruction and chaos and the worst thing was the voice in his head telling him of how he would be this great Herald.

Hoping that it would stop the voice in his head and give him some peace of mind, Jack started to squeeze the Dark Energon crystal until it broke in two, before tossing them into the air and transforming his right hand into his blaster mode and destroyed the two pieces of the crystal. Sighing, Jack transformed his blaster back to its original form and sat down on his chair and closed his eyes, hoping that some rest would clear his mind.

Yet as soon as his eyelids shut, he was once again bombarded with that same image as before with the erupting volcano and Megatron standing over a defeated Optimus, but instead of opening his eyes as he wanted to, something was keeping them shut. No matter how much he wanted to force the image from occupying his mind, it was unable to do so and was forced to watch as a large plume of smoke came from the volcano and slowly a face formed. It was the same face he saw when he looked at the mirror once.

" _ **Did you really believe that getting rid of the Dark Energon you had was going to rid of me so easily? You are both naive and a fool."**_ The being said. _**"I was in your mind long before you got that shard."**_

" _What do you want?"_ Jack asked.

" _ **Your undying servitude."**_ The being said.

" _Go to hell. I am not some servant that you can boss around, and there's nothing you can do."_ Jack stated.

The being said nothing but simply narrowed its purple optics and glare at him. _**"So be it boy. You will hear from me again."**_

* * *

Snapping his eyes back open, Jack lurched forward and rested his arms on the chair's armrest as he darted his eyes around the lab and found it empty. Taking a deep breath, Jack tried to calm his raging heart and pounding head. Rubbing his forehead to alleviate the headache that was forming, Jack got up from his chair and headed towards the bathroom to take a shower.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, what time is it?" he asked as he took off his shirt and jeans.

"It's 2pm in the afternoon sir." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

Nodding, Jack entered the shower and turned on the water. The one thing he made sure was that his robotic appendages were waterproof, as well as fire resistant, acid resistant and anything that he could think of.

Once he was done, he decided to see where the others were and what they were doing. Walking through the vast hallways and entering the main area, Jack saw Optimus staring at the monitor while Ratchet was at his giant microscope, possibly going over the Synthetic Energon formula again. He could not see Bumblebee, Bulkhead or Arcee anywhere. Walking up the staircase, he noticed Raf going over his computer. He also saw Steve reading the newspaper, while also drinking a cup of coffee. But also noticing that Miko was also not around.

Deciding to join Raf and to also see what it was he were doing. Walking over to the couch and sitting down on it, he saw that he were looking at a conspiracy website.

"Making sure that no one spotted any of our Cybertronian friends, guys?" Jack asked.

"Yep." Raf answered.

Nodding, Jack turned his attention back to the laptop and began to give their opinions on the pictures that showed on screen.

"No. Pass. Toy. Kid in a costume. Balloon. Nope. Hold." Jack said as he and Raf went through several photos until they came across Bumblebee in his vehicle mode without a driver speeding down the highway. "The camera sure loves Bee."

"Wait is that Bumblebee?" Ratchet asked as he leaned over, taking a closer look at the image.

"On a conspiracy website, where users post evidence pf close encounters with aliens. But we have it under control." Raf explained. "We just scrub the image and replace Bee with….'Mars cat says _"Take me to your feeder."_ Raf said as he replaced the picture with a GIF animation of a cat in an orange jumpsuit and yellow hat.

Ratchet then did something that no one expected. He laughed.

Caught, Ratchet looked at the kids and noticed that Raf was startled while Jack and Steve were giving small smile.

"Well what do you know? The doc really does have a sense of humour." Steve joked as he went back to his newspaper.

"Uh…" Ratchet stumbled as he tried to find a way out of the mess he made.

Jack simple shook his head and turned to look at Optimus, who was still staring at the monitor. "Hey Optimus, do you want to see something funny?" he asked.

"No." Optimus replied as he continued to stare the screen.

"Don't take it personally Jack. Primes are built that way." A voice said. Turning Jack saw that it was Arcee and Bumblebee, who had just walked in.

Bumblebee gave a few beeps and whirls as he followed behind Arcee.

"While Optimus may keep his emotions in check, I knew him for far longer and I still remember a time when he wasn't a Prime." Ratchet said.

"Optimus wasn't always a Prime?" Raf asked, shocked to think that Optimus wasn't always Optimus.

Ratchet shook his head in denial. "On Cybertron, one isn't born or created into a Prime. Rather, that they must earn it." Ratchet explained.

"So what was Optimus like?" Steve asked.

"If I were to compare Optimus to anyone, I would say that he would be like Jack. Sans the genius intellect." Ratchet said, looking at Jack.

Embarrassed, Jack averted his eyes from looking at the others, who were all looking at him. Luckily he was saved from further embarrassment when Agent Fowler called them.

"PRIME! Those techs my boys have been tracking, we figured it was M.E.C.H what with the stealth tactics used. That was until footage from the Pennington Ebbs Particle Collider captured this." Fowler explained as he showed them the footage of Soundwave stealing a large device. "These are all the equipment that has been stolen so far."

Suddenly the footage was replaced with a list of equipment stolen. Going through the list quickly, Jack immediately knew what it was that the Decepticons were building.

"Plasma Injector, Neutron Shield, Tesseract." Ratchet listed off.

"Seems the Decepticons are going to try their hand at building a Space Bridge again. Only thing they need is an ample power source." Jack said as he quickly got onto the computer and began to type in frantically before turning back to the screen. "Fowler, I just sent you a list of places that house power sources that can power a Space Bridge of that size. I'd suggest on beefing up on the security there."

"Understood Jack. I'll send some men to….Yes what is it sergeant? WHAT! Damn it. Tell the men to pull back." Fowler ordered. "It seems that the list was unneeded Jack, considering that the Decepticons are attacking one of our high level research labs. I'm sending the location now."

Entering the coordinates, the Autobots entered through the GroundBridge as Jack ran back to his lab. Once he was suited up with his new armour and helmet with his shield attached to his left arm and sword on his back, Jack held his right arm up and typed in the coordinates of the base.

Something that he added after the weapons was his finished portable GroundBridge. Originally it was going to be added to the Mark X, but seeing as he was unable to do so he decided to add it to his right arm, as well as an assortment of other things, such as a flamethrower and freeze ray. When J.A.R.V.I.S learned of the weapons he was adding on top of the ones he had, the A.I said that he would be a one man army all to himself. Something that Jack agreed with.

Activating the GroundBridge, Jack stepped through the green vortex and into a warzone.

* * *

Much of the infrastructure of the base was destroyed and whatever fight the soldiers put up were quickly destroyed as tanks, trucks and bodies of dead men were all over the area. Currently the Autobots were faring well against the ground assault, but were constantly being harassed by the fliers.

Activating his thrusters and drawing his sword, Jack flew high into the sky and immediately shot towards an unsuspecting Decepticon and cleaved its vehicle form in two with his sword. That quickly got the other fliers attention and so they started firing at him. Flying away the Decepticons gave chase, all the while firing at him. Sheathing his sword, Jack grabbed one of his explosives and set it to the max and threw it behind him. Not a minute later and the sound of the imploder going off and taking every other flying Decepticon was heard even on the ground below, which stopped the fighting as they saw a large ball of flame and the pieces of the Decepticons in pieces falling to the ground. Using the distraction, the Autobots used their chance to even the numbers even more.

Suddenly a GroundBridge opened and even more Decepticons joined the fighting, as the fliers took to the air and those on the ground started to overwhelm the Autobots. Knowing that the Autobots needed help, Jack dived down to the ground, with the flying Decepticons following close behind. Smirking behind his helm, Jack quickly pulled up and drew his sword, causing the Decepticons to crash onto the ground due to their inability to pull up in time, and headed for the large force of Vehicon. Jack flew through the mass of Vehicons, all the while cutting and slicing his way through to make it easier for the others. Once he was on the other side he landed on the ground and saw a large portion of the back half of the Vehicon forces cut down.

Seeing their comrade's fall to such a small human, they decided to deal with him first and thus aimed their blasters at him and fired. Activating his shield, Jack held it in front of him and ducked behind it to over himself. Due to how small he was and the amount of times the Vehicons fired at him, it was a surprise for them to see the human still standing. Smirking, Jack got up from his ducked position, sheathed his sword, deactivated his shield, transformed his hands to their blaster form and activated the rapid-fire mode.

"My turn." Jack said smugly, before proceeding to open fire.

The blasters bolts, while less powerful than a standard shot, had the advantage of being able to rip through armour easily due to how fast they hit the target and the amount that hits them. And because Vehicon armour was not as strong, they were especially easy to shred through. Quickly changing back to the standard fire mode, Jack used a short burst from his thrusters to jump high into the air and land on top the Vehicons head before jumping up and landing on another, but not before he blasted a hole through it. He repeated this action again and again, destroying some while letting the Vehicons shoot their own comrade's by accident. As soon as the last of the group was down and he was on the ground, Jack saw that the Autobots were also dealing with the last of their own Vehicons.

Deciding to join them, Jack shot forward, drew his sword and decapitated the last Decepticon that was trying sneak up on Arcee.

"Thanks Jack." Arcee thanked as she saw the body of the Vehicon fall to the ground with a thump.

"Any time." Jack replied.

Arcee was about to say something when the sound of engines could be heard. Looking up they saw that it was the Nemeses and Megatron, who landed hard on the ground in front of them. As he saw his destroyed forces around him, he snarled at them before gaining a smirk.

"Optimus." Megatron greeted.

"Megatron. Do you not see the folly in trying to force a prophecy to fruition?" Optimus asked as he stared at Megatron.

"Why leave matters to fate? When one can forge one's own destiny? Ah and speaking of fate." Megatron stated as he smirked, looking past them.

Turning around, Jack and the others saw that it was Bulkhead, who seemed to be cradling something in his large hands. What he saw nearly caused his heart to stop. It was Miko, with Anthony on top of her worried.

Passing Miko onto Arcee, Jack scanned Miko and saw that she was alive but barely. The sound of chuckling could be heard, turning around they noticed that it was Megatron.

"Well it seems I wrecked a wrecker and crushed a bug." Megatron stated darkly.

"Why I-." Bulkhead started, only to be held back by Bumblebee and Optimus.

Anger. Sadness. Pain. Those were the emotions that were coursing through Jack at that moment and there was no reason for him to not want rip Megatron's head off. And that was what he going to do.

"I'm going to enjoy ripping your head off Megatron!" Jack stated as he shot forwards.

Yelling out a war cry, Jack slammed into Megatron and began to rain a flurry of punches causing the Decepticon Leader to stumble back. Using this to his advantage, Jack transformed his hands into his blasters and started to fire at Megatron, all the while encircling him. Megatron, visibly pissed, used his arm cannon and began to fire at Jack, only said person to dodge every blast that came his way due to his small size.

Dodging the blasts that came his way, Jack continued to fire away at Megatron until he fired at Megatron's head, right between the optics, causing him to stumble back. Using this chance, Jack shot forwards and, while turning his weapons back into his hands, punched Megatron in the face hard enough to down the Decepticon Warlord.

Due to being shot in between the optics and being punched soon after, Megatron was both dazed and blinded slightly.

Landing hard on top of Megatron's chest, Jack drew his sword and held it in one hand while grabbing Megatron by his chin. "Look at me as kill you Megatron. Know that it wasn't Optimus or one of your subordinates that kills you. But me, a human. Now die." Jack said as he gripped his sword in reverse and brought it down.

But just as the tip of the blade was about to impale itself into Megatron, Jack was thrown back by a blaster shot.

Groaning, Jack looked up to see that it was KnockOut who shot him. Behind him was a squad of Vehicons all pointing their blasters at him. Getting up slowly, Jack secretly activated the GroundBridge behind him to send him back to base, but not before dropping flashbang on the ground to cover his escape.

* * *

"J.A.R.V.I.S what's the diagnostics of Miko's health?" Jack asked as he ran through the hallways of the base and into the medical bay of the base.

Jack saw that Miko was laid down onto a gurney with a heart monitor attached to her. Her entire body was pale with the gains showing through her skin. What he saw caused his heart to break and worry seep into him, hoping that he was not to late.

"Miko isn't responding. We have to run diagnostics on her assemblage- eh vital statistics." Ratchet said as he turned around holding two drills, before realising that he had the wrong equipment. "My tools! They're all WRONG!" he shouted as he threw them away.

Suddenly the sound of a fist colliding with concrete could be heard. Turning his head, Jack saw that it was Bulkhead. "How could I let this happen? I'm supposed to protect her!" he exclaimed as he smashed his fist against the wall again.

Suddenly Arcee shoved against him and held him against the wall, her hands on Bulkheads chest. "Bulkhead listen to me! Do you think you're the only one who know how it feels to see a partner-harmed? Miko is a strong girl, and you have to be too." She said as Bulkhead looked away.

"Sir? Scans indicate that she has the same readings as Dark Energon." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

That quickly got Jack's and everyone else's attention as he stopped himself. "Are you telling me that she has been exposed to Dark Energon!" he asked.

"Indeed I am sir. Scans also show that her vitals are dropping steadily." The A.I replied.

"Dammit! And the only thing that can get rid of the exposure is Energon. But because normal Energon when exposed causes severe side effects, we can't use that." Jack explained.

"Well what are going to do, we can't exactly just leave her like this!" Ratchet exclaimed.

"No, but maybe this can help." Jack said as he pulled out a vail of one of his Synthetic Energon.

"Hang on. I thought you said that regular Energon can cause severe side effects." Raf stated. "So how will this help?"

"Yes, but my Synthetic Energon has the same properties of regular Energon, but none of the drawbacks due to the modifications I made when recreating it." Jack explained.

Suddenly the heart monitor started to beep wildly, signifying that her condition was getting worse. Running to the containment pod, Jack placed the vial of Synthetic Energon in the dispersal unit and punched in a few command keys.

"Get her in the containment pod NOW!" Jack ordered as Steve pushed the gurney.

Punching in more commands, once Steve had pushed the gurney inside and left, the doors closed, sealing Miko inside. Pulling down on the lever, Jack activated the pods cleansing feature, as a green hue shone down onto Miko's body brightly before it disappeared. Opening the door, Jack, Steve and Raf walked in to see Miko's complexion returning to what it once was, the veins also disappearing. Slowly her eyelids opened and she turned her head slightly to look at everyone.

"Hey." Miko said quietly.

Taking her hand in his, Jack smiled down at her. "Hey yourself." He replied.

* * *

 **Did you enjoy the first part of the last act for this story? Leave a review to tell me what you think. Have an awesome day!**


	24. One Shall Fall Part II

**Another Chapter. Enjoy**

* * *

Chapter 24

"With Megatron now possessing an ample power source for his SpaceBridge, it would stand to reason that we have a small window to stop them from using the power source." Ratchet said as he faced the other Autobots.

"Therefore, Ratchet and I have devised a plan for us to retrieve the power source without the Decepticons noticing." Optimus declared.

"How? The Nemesis is hidden from our scanners." Arcee pointed out.

"Then we shall lure Megatron out." Optimus said. "I have been foolish not to see what history has proven over and over again, that Autobots and Decepticons will never mend their ways. If there can be diplomatic solution to this perpetual conflict, then I must not allow more darkness to fall upon this or any planet. Megatron must be destroyed." He declared.

"That explains how we're going to lure Megatron out. But that does not explain how we're going to find and infiltrate the warship." Arcee pointed out.

"That is true, but while I was dealing with Megatron earlier I managed to place tracker on Megatron without him noticing. It's been sending me its location ever since. Unfortunately Megatron just left the ship, so the only way for us to get into the ship is to use Megatron's last known coordinates." Jack said.

"Are you saying we can GroundBridge into the Nemesis itself?" Bulkhead asked.

"No." Jack answered. "If we were to do so, the instant you exited the GroundBridge, you would fall due to the fact that the Nemesis is moving. I'm going to GroundBridge to its last known coordinates and find the warship, and because of my size, I won't be detected."

"Are you sure Jack?" Optimus asked.

"Very sure Optimus." Jack answered. "Once I'm on the Nemesis, I'll find the power source and call for the GroundBridge."

"Very well Jack." Optimus said.

Jack nodded and placed his helmet on before entering the coordinates on his portable GroundBridge. Activating his thrusters as the Bridge fired up, Jack hovered just above the ground before leaning forward and fly through the GroundBridge.

Exiting the GroundBridge, Jack saw that he was high amongst the clouds with the warship nowhere in sight. Knowing that Nemesis would most likely be heading for the SpaceBridge, Jack shot forwards, hoping to catch up to the warship.

"J.A.R.V.I.S scan for any signs of large displacements of air ahead of us." Jack said as he continued to fly forwards.

"Using the air currents to find where the Nemesis is, sir?" J.A.R.V.I.S asked.

"Much like a plane flying through the sky, the Nemesis should also be displacing the air currents ahead of it moving forward." Jack explained.

"Very good sir. Scanning now." J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

Not a minute later, J.A.R.V.I.S' voice sounded in his earpiece. "Sir, I'm detecting a rather large object flying at high speeds through the sky just to the left of your current position." J.A.R.V.I.S said.

"Thanks J.A.R.V.I.S." Jack said, banking to the left and boosting forward to catch up to the Nemesis.

Flying forward at speeds reaching Mach two, Jack eventually saw the tail end of the warship. Activating his stealth capabilities, Jack quickly landed on the warship and found a ventilation shaft and entered.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, scan for the energy that the power source is emanating." Jack ordered.

"Already done sir. Just move forward until you come across a intersection, "turn left and then keep moving straight." J.A.R.V.I.S instructed.

Following J.A.R.V.I.S' instructions, Jack soon found himself at the intersection before turning left and moving straight ahead. He kept moving forward until he heard J.A.R.V.I.S' voice again.

"You're there sir. Just look down." J.A.R.V.I.S said.

Doing as he was told, Jack looked down through the grill and saw what was essentially a storage room. In it there were two Decepticon Vehicons guarding the area. Looking around, Jack saw the large power source near the Vehicon he was just above, with the other patrolling on the other end of the room. Knowing that he would have to be quick to not alert any of the other Vehicons in the warship, Jack dropped down hard on top of the Vehicon's head, grabbing his sword, unsheathing it and throwing it by the hilt to other. Vehicon as it aimed its blaster at him. The sword impaled the Vehicon blade first through its head before falling backwards with a dull thud.

Turning back the Vehicon that he was on top off, Jack used all of his robotic strength and punched through the Vehicon head, leaving a human fist sized hole in its wake. Taking his hand out of the hole and shaking off the bits of wiring and Energon that was leaking from its head, Jack went and grabbed his sword from the other Vehicon.

"Alright everyone I'm in. Sending coordinates now." Jack said as he began to type in his coordinates and sending it over towards the Autobots.

Not two minutes later and a GroundBridge opened in front of him and out stepped Bulkhead. Pointing over towards the power source, he saw Bulkhead head over towards it before grabbing it and hoisting over his back. Due to its size and heaviness, Jack could see that even Bulkhead had some trouble lifting it and heaving it on his back, causing him to slouch heavily.

Once Bulkhead had the power source securely on his back, him and Jack entered the GroundBridge and back to the base, closing the Bridge as he exited. Looking around, Jack noticed that Optimus was not around, most probably fighting against Megatron. Walking up to the human area, Jack saw that Raf was on one of the chairs with his computer while Miko was drawing on her sketch pad on the couch with Steve nowhere around. Sitting down next to Miko, Jack placed his helmet on the table and rested his head on the top of the couch backrest and closed his eyes.

Yet the moment he closed his eyes, Jack did not see the darkness that accompanied whenever he closed his eyes, but rather the body of Optimus being thrown backwards. He saw himself walk forward to Optimus as he was struggling to get up. Taking a closer look, Jack saw that Optimus was badly damaged with dents, scrapes and a wound that was leaking Energon on his side with one of his blades snapped in two.

"Is that it? I expected more of a fight Optimus." Jack heard himself say, but not in his voice but rather Megatron's. It seemed that he was seeing through Megatron's eyes. "Where's that fighting spirit that you so often have an abundance of?"

"Despite my weakened state Megatron, I am still capable of combating you." Optimus replied as he transformed his broken sword into his blaster.

"We shall see." Jack/Megatron said.

Snapping his eyes open wide, Jack quickly got up from the couch, placing his helmet on as he did and made his way down the flight of stairs.

"J.A.R.V.I.S! Open a GroundBridge to Optimus' location now!" Jack ordered as he jumped the last few step and ran straight towards the now active GroundBridge.

But just as he was about halfway towards the GroundBridge, his head exploded in pain as he could hear the voice of the being once again in his head as the whole base began to shake and the klaxons began to blare out loudly. Pressing his hand against his head, Jack fell down onto his knees as the voice began to get louder before culminating in a loud crescendo.

" _ **I AWAKEN!"**_ the voice cried out.

Hunched down Jack could only concentrate on the pain in his head and the overwhelming presence he felt, drowning out the voices of concern from Arcee and Miko.

In his mind Jack saw the same bearded metal face of the voice appear. _**"Serve me my herald."**_ The being said.

" _Never!"_ Jack screamed back in his head.

" _ **YOU WILL SERVE!"**_ the being shouted.

Jack screamed in pain as he suddenly felt electricity course through and around him both in mind and body, much to the shock of everyone. In his mind, Jack once again saw the dead bodies of everyone he cared about lying on the ground. The Autobots, Fowler, Raf, his parents and finally Miko.

" _ **This is what will happen if you do not serve me, my herald. Everyone you care about will DIE!"**_ the being intoned.

"NO!" Jack suddenly shouted, getting up quickly.

Jumping into the air, Jack activated his thruster's midjump and shot towards the GroundBridge and onto the other side. Once there, he quickly spotted Megatron on top of a prone Optimus with his sword raised above his head, ready to deliver the final blow. Blasting forward with as much speed, Jack slammed into Megatron just as he was about to swing his sword down and began to pound into Megatron's chest damaging it even further before slamming Megatron onto the ground.

Slamming down onto him, Jack began to slam his fist into Megatron's face again and again, trying to get the image that he saw in his mind out. Yet whenever he tried to do so, all he could see was his dead parents and Miko lying on the ground, their eyes vacant and their faces contorted in pain.

"P..p..ple..ase.." a voice pleaded.

Looking down, Jack's eyes widened in horror as, for a brief moment, he saw the beaten, bleeding form of Miko below him before turning back into the battered and weakened state that Megatron was in.

Recoiling in horror, Jack stumbled off Megatron and landing onto the ground. Jack just stared at the sky as Dark Energon fell to the ground and purple lightning cracked across the clouds. Getting up slowly, he made his way back to Optimus, who was being helped by Bulkhead and Arcee making their way to the still open GroundBridge.

Once they passed through the GroundBridge, Jack closed the portal and turned around to face the active volcano. Taking his helmet off, his lenses retreating back to show his eyes, he stared at the volcano as his eyes shone a bright dark purple.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it. Leave a review and have an awesome day!**


	25. One Shall Fall Part III

**What's up everyone! We're nearing the end of this story. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 25

Walking up the side of the mountain, Jack made his way to the very mouth of the volcano where his master was calling. No matter how much he hated it, he knew he had lost this fight. He only hoped that everyone could forgive him for what he was about to do to them.

* * *

Gathered around the giant berth, Optimus laid down upon it as Ratchet ran some tests and scans to see the extent of the damage that Optimus was in.

"Easy Optimus, you've been exposed to a large amount of Dark Energon. It seems your fight with Megatron has left you in a very serious condition Optimus. You have not only lost a substantial amount of Energon, but also the ability to move around for the next few days. Until I can fix you up, you're to stay in the base with minimal movement around. Doctor's orders." Ratchet explained as he finished his scan.

"Good thing that Megatron is also in a similar if not worse state after Jack pounded old bucket head into the ground." Bulkhead said.

"Where is Jack anyway?" Raf asked.

"Don't know. J.A.R.V.I.S see if you can find Jack." Miko asked.

""I'm sorry Miss Nakadai, but it seems that master Darby has deactivated his tracker and has communications. I am therefore unable to make any sort of contact." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

"We have to find him!" Miko exclaimed.

"We will Miko, but rushing blindly without knowing where he is, isn't going to help us or Jack." Steve said, trying to calm the girl down.

"Why not use the coordinate from before?" Raf asked.

Making his way to the controls for the GroundBridge, Ratchet punched in the coordinates and pulled the lever to activate it, only for nothing to happen.

'Strange. Why would the GroundBridge not activate." Ratchet asked himself quietly as he went back to the computer and typed in a few more commands hoping to find the problem.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, run a diagnostics on the GroundBridge system." Ratchet asked

"Very well Doctor." The A.I answered.

"What I would like to know is what has happened to Jack. What caused him to just up and disappear like that?" Steve asked.

"Jack has been actin strangely for the past few days." Raf noted.

"How so?" Steve asked.

"Normally he would spend most of his days in his lab, going over blueprints on his computer or tinkering with some of his suits. But lately all I see him do is stay near us." Raf explained.

"Maybe he just wants to spend more time with us?" Arcee reasoned.

"Perhaps, but whenever he comes by I notice that he seems exhausted and tired. He tries to hide it but it is there." Raf replied.

"Maybe he's overworking himself?" Steve asked.

"I don't think so. Whenever he looks at any of us, I notice that he looks at us in fear, almost as if he's afraid." Raf answered. "The question is what is causing it?"

"Since when did you get so observant short stuff?" Miko asked.

"I live with a large family, I have to be observant and I'm rather smart." Raf boasted. Miko smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Scan complete. It would appear that Jack has disabled the GroundBridge after it deactivated." J.A.R.V.I.S spoke up.

"Can it be fixed?" Arcee asked.

"Indeed, it would require a manual reboot however." J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

"And that would take at least an hour. Enough time for Jack to completely vanish." Ratchet said.

* * *

Standing at the very edge of the volcano, Jack could barely see through the plume of smoke the lava that was bubbling on its very surface. The heat that was being let out caused him to wear his helmet again. It had taken him at least an hour to reach the top on foot, and while he could have flown all the way, he wanted to stall the meeting with his master for as long as he could.

He had heard Megatron laugh in victory earlier and saw the Nemesis fly over towards Megatron as a GroundBridge opened and Vehicons were spewing out, collecting the Dark Energon.

"You wanted me here as your Herald!? Here I am!" Jack shouted out.

Suddenly the entire volcano shook, the clouds rumbled and lightning arced wildly as another, thicker plume of smoke arose from the volcano. Slowly the body and face of his master began to form and before long, his master was staring at him, deep purple eyes that seem to show the chaos and destruction that he could cause.

" **You finally accept your fate my herald. Good."** His master said.

"Who are you?" Jack asked.

His master said nothing for a minute before speaking. **"Surprising that you do not know of me Herald. I am the Chaos Bringer, Unicron."**

* * *

"So let me get this straight! You're telling me that this Uber-con is somehow in the centre of our planet and is causing all of this!?" Fowler exclaimed, pointing towards the television.

"Indeed Agent Fowler." Optimus answered.

"What I don't understand is how he got there in the first place and still be alive." Steve asked.

"Such a thing is not unprecedented. Before the beginning there was Primus, and there was Unicron. One the incarnation of creation, the other of destruction. For eons Primus and Unicron battled, the balance shifting between them more times than could be counted."

* * *

" **Only by creating those thirteen disciples of Primus were they able to defeat me and cast me out!"** The now named Unicron thundered, causing the volcano to shake once more.

* * *

"Primus became one with the very core of our planet, creating life through the well of AllSparks. While Unicron was never to be heard from again, until now." Optimus said finishing his tale.

"Maybe we can find where this Uber-con left his hole when he dug himself all the way down there and fill it full of explosive!" Fowler said.

"Agent Fowler. I do not believe that earth became Unicron's home, but rather that with time and gravitational force, debris collected around the slumbering titan." Optimus explained.

"Forming your earth itself." Ratchet intoned, finishing what Optimus was implying.

That caused all the humans to widen their eyes in shock. To think that the very planet that they reside upon was the created by the antithesis of their friends own home. Two polar opposites in terms of species, yet so closely connected by history.

"And he's only awakening now due to the magnetic pull created by the planetary alignment." Arcee exclaimed.

"Well what happens when Unicron wakes up?" Raf asked.

"Yeah, does he stretch and poof, no more earth?" Miko asked, emphasising her point by stretching her arms out slowly before thrusting her arms and legs outwards.

Silence reigned inside the Autobot base as Optimus did not answer immediately. Steve walked up to the railing and peered towards the Autobot leader.

"You don't know do you?" he asked.

Optimus shut his optics closed before opening them and answering "My guess is that Unicron has transcended physical form, nonetheless we must find a way to ensure that this force of nature never fully awakens. The fate of your planet depends on it." Optimus stated.

* * *

"Since you clearly do not have a physical form, what purpose am I to you?" Jack asked.

" **You are my Herald, boy. You will do my bidding, but you will not be acting by my word, but rather how I see fit."** Unicron stated.

"How?" Jack asked.

" **I will take your body as my own. It is through you, my Herald that we shall bring chaos and destruction to the universe."** Unicron answered.

"If you think that I'm just going to hand over control of my body to you, you're sorely mistaken!" Jack shouted.

" **Arrogant fool! Do you think I care about your thoughts or feeling on the matter? No, I will take what is MINE!"** Unicron bellowed as he lunged forward.

The entire plume of smoke that was Unicron slowly surrounded him and lifted him into the air. Once at a meter high the smoke that surrounded him slowly began to seep into his suit and somehow into every pore along his skin. Pain unlike any other erupted throughout his entire body, like needles stuck into every part of his skin. His mind was also not spared as he felt as if his entire head was being squeezed by a large hand, crushing him.

Jack screamed as the torture continued until he could scream no longer and passed out from the strain.

* * *

"What are we going to do about Jack though? We don't know where he is and have no way of contacting him." Steve asked as he, Miko, Raf and Agent Fowler roamed the halls of the Autobots base.

Ratchet was helping Optimus recover, hopefully finding a way speed up the recovery, while Arcee was on watching the monitors. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were in the training rooms.

"Maybe there's something in his lab that could tell us." Raf stated.

"I don't know, going through his files seems invasive, don't you think?" Fowler asked.

"We'll make sure to not peek into any of his files." Miko said

Making their way through the halls, the group soon found themselves in Jack's lab. Entering said lab, the group found their way to the table and began to look through Jacks stuff. Most of contained blueprints for weapons or suit designs, while other were notes on certain effects that Energon had on different metals.

Opening one the drawers, Miko found a small notebook on top of a stack of paper. Picking it up, Miko flipped the cover and saw that it was in Jack's handwriting, detailing his day to day activities.

"Guys, I think I found Jack's diary!" Miko exclaimed, causing everyone to quickly huddle around Miko.

"Should we really be going through his diary Miko? I mean that's really private stuff." Raf cautioned.

"Don't you want to know what happened to Jack?" Miko asked.

"Yeah sure, but-." Raf started only to be interrupted by Miko.

"But nothing, this might be our only way to know" Miko stated.

"As much as I hate to go through such private material, Miko is right. If we want to know what has happened to Jack, we're going to have to go through his journal entries." Steve stated, with Fowler nodding to the statement as well.

"Let's take a look at some of his recent entries then." Miko said as she flipped through the pages until she came to one of the entries that was written just yesterday.

 _December 2nd 2016_

 _The nightmares are getting worse._

 _Used to be every night whenever I close my eyes, the nightmare returns and repeat itself over and over. The same volcano, with the purple lightning, and falling purple rock. The same voice in my head telling me be his Herald._

 _Now however, it's different. I see the Autobots defeated by this entity, then the Avengers. After that it's the Decepticons and finally earth's military. Nothing seems to be able to defeat this entity and when I looked at my surroundings, all I see is the rubble of a city and the dead husks of both Autobot and Decepticon, as well as the skulls of the human race._

 _I look up and see this monstrosity of a Cybertronian tower over me, and at his feet is a person wearing a large cloak with its hood over his head. For it can only be a male due to the stature and stance. I find myself unable to move and can only watch as the person pulls its hood down to reveal who he is._

 _It's me_

* * *

 **Was that good? Leave a review to tell me your thoughts on it. Something I notice is that no one seems to get that i'm changing certain charateristics to fit this story. For Miko, I have her less adventerous because she's realising that it's not all a huge adventure for her and that her actions have consequences. Especially now after she was close to death.**

 **I'm planning something for Jack and MIko, but that won't be revealed until the somewhere near the start or the middle of the second season.**

 **As for Thanos, that won't happen until most likely after Cybertron is restored. Ultron won't be until somewhere in the middle or near the end of the second season.**

 **Have an awesome day.**


	26. The Turn of the Tide

**Hello everyone! Here's another chapter for you all.**

* * *

Chapter 26

As Optimus laid on the medical berth, his thoughts were on Unicron and how they were going to defeat such an entity. But also where their wayward friend was. He had noticed that Jack seemed more tired and exhausted for the past few days. Whenever he had looked at Jack, something deep within his spark seemed to resonate within him.

Looking at Jack was like looking into a mirror. Responsible at a young age and having a wisdom that those his age do not possess. When he first was introduced to the three children, he noticed that Jack was seemed reluctant to even be around them. But despite his reluctance, Jack seemed interested in who they were and why they were here in the first place.

When Jack left after the whole debacle with the undead Cybertronians and the Decepticons capturing both Agent Fowler and himself, he had asked what had happened when his Autobots were on the Nemesis. Miko told of Jack keeping herself and Rafael safe from the Decepticons by wearing his armour.

But when his home was the target of an invasion, Jack came to their aid and helped to make sure that they did not have too much trouble with the Decepticons. He had sacrificed his peace and quiet life to ensure the Decepticons were defeated. Even going so far as to help him battle against Megatron. He had learned later on what had made him into such a person. His father had taught him the meaning of right and wrong, that one must take responsibility for their actions and those around them.

He knew that Jack would sacrifice his entire being to protect not only his friends and family, but also his home. And nowhere was this more proven when he had taken the nuclear bomb and flew it straight through the wormhole over New York City when the Chitauri attacked. Losing both of his arms and legs in the process.

Now he is missing and with the GroundBridge inoperable and no way to contact Jack, the only thing they could do is wait.

* * *

It would late into the night, after the Autobots were powered down and the humans were back home, that it happened. The large Autobot symbol that was engraved on the floor, began to part sideway in the middle until there was a large hole. Ever so slowly an object began to rise from the depths until it was done. By the end, parked right in front of the GroundBridge was a MARAUDER. It was slightly bigger and wider than Optimus' vehicle mode. The entire colour scheme of the truck was mostly black with red streaks of flames on the front of the truck, going all the way from the grill to just before the windows.

Suddenly the GroundBridge opened and the truck revved its engine before speeding through said GroundBridge. Once the GroundBridge closed, the Autobot insignia began to close.

* * *

Nothing would happen for the next two days as both leaders of the Decepticons and Autobots healed from their injuries. But that was not to say that they were idle. Reports were coming in of a large Cybertronian coloured in black and red flames with purple optics destroying many of the old and abandoned military bases and causing as much destruction as possible. And that it was slowly making its way towards Jasper Nevada. When Fowler asked if any of the Autobots knew of such a Cybertronian, they denied of any such knowledge.

The earthquakes that had rocked the earth days earlier had subsided, with only a spare few popping up once in a while. When they had initially went to investigate the different points, they discovered that the area surrounding the point was very rich in ore and minerals.

It would not be until the third day that the trouble truly began.

Everyone in the base was doing their own thing, Ratchet was alert for anymore earthquakes to form, while Arcee and Bumblebee had just returned to base. Bulkhead was watching a monster truck rally on TV with Miko, Raf was on his computer while Steve was reading his newspaper and Optimus was in his room.

Suddenly the klaxons in the base began blaring, telling everyone that someone was heading towards the front entrance of the base. Typing a few commands on the computer, the cameras showed a large vehicle speed its way towards the hidden entrance. As it did so, they notice a rocket fire from the vehicle and fly to the entrance.

The whole base shook as the missile destroyed the entrance and the large vehicle blast its way through the tunnel and into the main area of the base. The vehicle stopped just in front the Autobots, who stood in front of the humans while also pointing their weapons at the intruder.

The vehicle then transformed into a rather large Cybertronian. The figure in front of them was taller and much broader that Optimus, very similar to Megatron. He however looked more like if Megatron lost his spikes and his shoulders and arm canon. The one thing that stood out however is how its head reminded them of how Jack would like if he wore his Iron Man armour.

It was in fact the armour that Jack created to deal with Cybertronians in an all-out war of attrition. Dubbed the ConCrusher, the suit was a walking artillery with heavy sabot rounds loaded into the weapons with an Energon Machine Gun strapped on top of each forearm. He had even more weapons, such as a freeze gun and flamethrower and various form of grenades that he could launch with his grenade launcher. It was made of the pure Cybertroniam, and because it was made of pure Cybertroniam it meant that his suit could take a hell of a beating before being destroyed.

The chest area suddenly opened up and sitting in there was Jack.

"JACK!" Everyone exclaimed, shocked to see their friend sitting there.

" **I am not my Herald."** Jack said, but his voice was much more deep and baritone. **"Do you know me follower of Primus?"** he asked staring at Optimus.

"Unicron, the Chaos Bringer." Optimus answered, narrowing his optics at him and stepping in front of everyone.

" **Good. Now know me as Unicron YOUR DESTROYER!"** Unicron shouted as the chest closed in around him.

Unicron then shot forward so fast that Optimus had no time to react as he was thrown backwards by the punch, causing himself and every Autobot behind him to be thrown to the wall. The humans were in shock that the Autobots were overcome so quickly and with only a single punch.

Unicron then approached the fallen Autobots and pointed his machine guns at them, preparing to fire. **"I thought that a Prime would put much more of a fight. How disappointing."** Unicron said.

"JACK STOP!" a voice cried out.

Turning to where the voice came from, Unicron saw the three humans standing there. From his Herald's memories, the small boy was Raf, the blond man was Steve and the girl was Miko, someone who was very dear to his Herald's heart.

" **And who are you to tell me to stop, parasite?"** he asked, leaning down to face them.

"Jack, I know you can hear me. Please, we know about how your nightmares plagued you and the fear you had for all of us, but this isn't the way!" Miko said, trying to reason with him.

" **Fool! You're prattling will do you no good. My Herald is mine to control and nothing can break him from my power."** Unicron shot back.

The sound of a war cry had Unicron quickly turn to the Autobots only to be tackled to the where the GroundBridge controls were be Optimus, causing the lever to fall and the GroundBridge activating. Optimus then proceeded to hold onto his chest, swing him around and throw him threw the GroundBridge.

* * *

Landing hard on the ground, Unicron looked up and saw that he was in the middle of a canyon. He quickly got up in time to see Optimus and the rest of the Autobots exit the GroundBridge before it closed.

" **Reinforcements will not save you for what is to come, Taint of Primus!"** Unicron declared, as several dozens of stone avatars of himself in his true form surrounded the canyon.

The stone avatars began attacking the Autobots and the original Unicron and Optimus battled in an all-out slugfest. Parrying and blocking each punch and kick while trying to finding a weakness in each other's stances. But due to the injuries that he had suffered earlier from Megatron and him being recently recovered, Optimus began to waver a little, and that was all Unicron needed. Blocking a right hook from Optimus, Unicron wrapped his arm around Optimus' and headbutted a few times before picking him up and throwing the Autobot leader to the ground.

Walking to the fallen leader, Unicron was intercepted by the one called Bulkhead when said Autobot slammed his large wrecking ball to the side of his helm while Arcee and Bumblebee begun to run in circles around him shooting at him with their blasters. Growing tired of their incessant attacks, Unicron ordered his avatars to attack the other Autobots. Once they were sufficiently distracted, he turned his back to the now standing Optimus who began to fire his own blasters at Unicron.

Transforming his hands, Unicron used the flamethrower and unleashed an inferno at Optimus, who had dodged the blast by rolling out of the way. Unicron sent another blast of fire at Optimus who this time ran sideways, firing his blasters at Unicron while also staying just ahead of the flames that were trailing behind him.

" **Where is your courage Prime! You shame your predecessors by fighting the way that you are."** Unicron goaded.

He then quickly switched his flamethrower for his grenade launcher and fired a single grenade just in front of where Optimus was going. The resulting explosion in front of him caused Optimus to be thrown back. Jumping up high into the air, Unicron brought his fist down to where Optimus' head was, only to miss and leave a small crater where his fist landed.

Optimus, who had stood up by that point gave a swift kick to his head and instead of pressing his attack retreated with the other Autobots. Getting up quickly, Unicron chased after the group, but stopped after a while when he noticed where they were going. Using his control, he summoned a titan of an avatar, easily reaching 1000 feet high. He then went and followed them to the top to watch what would be the end of the Autobots.

He suddenly heard the GroundBridge opened next to him. Turning, he watched as the group known as the Avengers exit the vortex. The group consisted of Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk, Thor and Miko.

" **Foolish humans! What possible threat could you pose against the Chaos Bringer?"** Unicron demanded.

"We don't give up hope! Avengers attack!" Captain America ordered, as he threw his shield at Unicron.

Black Widow, then began firing her own dual handguns, while Hawkeye shot multiple flash arrows near his head to blind him. Thor meanwhile sent a powerful blast of lightning at his chest with Hulk smashing into his chest soon after, causing him to fall from the force of the impact.

"HULK SMASH TIN MAN!" Hulk raged as he continued to bash the chest area of the suit.

Using his right hand, Unicron swept him off like a bug and got back up. Once up, he began to stomp at wherever the Avengers were. Yet as he was doing so, he did not notice that Miko had thrown something at his chest until it was too late. He heard the sound of metal being eaten and watched in horror as his chest soon had a large hole.

It was Anthony who had chewed through the chest, and because he was a scraplet, he could easily chew through Cybertronian metal.

He was suddenly grabbed and thrown out of his suit by the Hulk, landing hard on the ground. Getting up quickly, Unicron saw that the Hulk was charging at him.

" **ENOUGH! I'm a god you dull creature and I will not be bullied by-ah!"** Unicron boasted until he grabbed by his ankle and smashed up and down for about a minute before he was dropped in the crater that his body made.

"Puny god." He heard Hulk say.

Unable to do anything, Unicron watched as Miko placed a strange device on his chest and very quickly he could feel his presence being separated from his Herald. As he felt his control on his Herald slip from him, he swore that he would have his revenge.

The explosion that followed was so powerful that it swept everyone off of their feet and cause the Autobots and Megatron to stumble back two miles away. As the humans around Jack slowly started to get up, they noticed that Jack was still on lying prone on the ground unmoving. Seeing this Miko quickly stumbled her way over to him as Anthony was crawling on top of Jack's chest, falling onto her knees when she got close.

"Jack?" Miko whispered his name, hoping for a response.

Placing her hands to the side of his helmet, she slowly pulled it off and saw that Jack's eyes were closed. His entire complexion was pale from the lack of sunlight and gaunt due to lack of food.

* * *

The first of his senses to return to him was his hearing. The first thing he heard was the sound of a heartbeat monitor going on in time with his own heartbeat. Next came his mind as it woke itself from its slumber after Unicron took over. Then came the sensations of his body and boy was it sore, so he just stayed prone on whatever he was laying on and just let his mind and body adjust to the sudden pain.

After about a minute, Jack blinked his eyes opened and took stock of what was around him. It seemed that he was in the human part of the infirmary, and that when he looked around, he noticed Miko sitting on a chair next to his bed with Anthony on her lap, both of them sleeping. Thoughts of when he had lost his limbs after the battle of New York came to his mind as he felt a sense of nostalgia, he even almost expected to see Tony Stark walk into the room.

Sitting up slowly, Jack noticed that he was still in his armour and that his chest area had an addition that was not the before. It had silver outlines with Energon blue marking on it, and when he placed his hand near the device it began to emit a soft glow, causing him to see strange symbols. The symbols were definitely Cybertronian in nature as he recognised some of them but older, as if the current Cybertronian language was an offshoot of the language.

He quickly held his hand to his head and groaned from the sudden burst of knowledge, causing him to have a slight migraine and subsequently waking Miko and Anthony up.

"Jack! You're ok!" Miko exclaimed as she quickly got up from her chair to hug him. Anthony managed to jump off her lap and land on the bed just in time.

Hugging back, Jack let her go and began to rub Anthony's large head when he placed it on top of the scraplet.

"Thank you Miko." Jack said suddenly

"For what?" Miko questioned.

"For saving me from Unicron's possession." Jack answered. "Without you, I might never have been rid of that monster's influence."

Miko simply smiled at him and hugged him again before holding him at arm's length and scrunching her nose a little. "You need a shower. You stink!" she said.

Jack gave a short laugh and slowly got out of bed with Miko's help. "That I do."

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave your thoughts in the reviews.**

 **Have an awesome day!**


	27. His Rise and Fall

**The Final Chapter is Here. Brace yourselves, it's gonna be a whopper!**

* * *

Chapter 27

Walking through the halls of the base towards the main area, Jack could not help but feel guilty for the predicament that the Autobots were facing now. From what Miko had told him, the base was going to be decommissioned and the Autobots relocated to a temporary base until a more permanent one could be established.

Miko had explained that he had been unconscious for the past two days, and that much has happened since that time. The only reason that they had not already left was because they wanted him to be awake when the left.

It seemed that after he was exorcized of Unicron's influence and brought back for medical care, Optimus and Megatron formed an uneasy alliance to stop Unicron from rising. The only way to do so was to unleash the power of the Matrix of Leadership, an artefact of immense power and the proof that the bearer was worthy of the title Prime. But the only way to stop Unicron was for them and the rest of the Autobots, barring Ratchet, to GroundBridge into the very core of the Earth.

Of course once they got there, Unicron immediately sent some of his antibodies to get rid of the infestation. Working together, they managed to fight their way to Unicron's very spark, only for Optimus and Megatron to be separated from the rest, and unleash the Matrix of Leadership. Once done, the rest of the Autobots managed to blast their way through, only for Megatron and Optimus to retreat from them through Megatron's own GroundBridge. Ratchet had theorised that when Optimus had realised the power of the Matrix, he had lost his memories of ever being Optimus and reverted back to his previous life, Orion Pax.

Jack knew of Optimus' past with his talks with Ratchet when he had asked about Optimus' life before the war, so he was not surprised that Optimus, now Orion, would trust Megatron due to their friendship.

Walking into the main area, Jack saw the all of the Avengers gathered around the railing as well as Agent Fowler. The Autobots were also gathered in front of Ratchet, who was in front of his console. Making his way up, Jack noticed that everyone was staring at him, some of them, mostly just Ratchet, Bulkhead and Bumblebee, were staring in suspicion while the Avengers, Arcee and Agent Fowler were in relief that he was up and about. But Jack could see it, even if they were to deny it. They too held some suspicion and distrust in their eyes, despite their best attempts to hide it. The only one that did not have any of that suspicion and distrust was Miko.

"Miko told me everything. The question is, what next?" Jack asked, cutting straight to the point.

"What's next is whether we should continue trusting you!" Bulkhead exclaimed, startling everyone, but none more than Miko.

"Hang on there big green. Before we start pointing fingers and distrusting each other, we should find Prime and get his memories back, only then can we talk about trust issues." Agent Fowler cut in.

"Fowler is right. We should concentrating on the matter at hand, which Optimus is being in the clutches of Megatron, rather than bicker amongst ourselves." Steve said, agreeing with Fowler's assessment.

"They're both correct. And the only way we can save Optimus is through me, or rather the key that I wield." Jack said placing his hand above the key on his chest, which gave a soft hum and a light glow.

"How is the key going to help Jack?" Raf asked.

"This is no ordinary key Raf. This is the Key to Vector Sigma, an ancient repository of wisdom and knowledge that can help us restore Optimus to the way he was." Jack explained.

"Cool!" Miko exclaimed. "So where's the big V? Over here? Somewhere on in the back?" Miko asked.

"Miko, Vector Sigma isn't here on Earth, but rather Cybertron." Jack stated calmly.

"How could you possibly know that?" Ratchet asked.

"Optimus told me." Jack answered. Everyone gave him strange looks, so he began to explain. "While I was unconscious, Optimus spoke to me in my dreams."

 _Flashback_

 _Jack found himself for some reason in his own home, just as it was before the attack on Jasper. Walking through what was once the living room, Jack began to remember the many nights he would stay up to watch some of his cartoons only for his mother to bring him to bed when he had begun to get sleepy. Or some of the times that he would watch a movie with his mum and dad. He missed the days with his family._

" _Alright, what am I doing in my own home?" Jack asked out loud._

 _There was a sudden flickering of the lights before it stopped and there was a flash of white, causing him to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness. Once the flash had ended and his eyes adjusted back to normal, he saw that he was standing on top of the mesa that was the Autobot base watching the sun set. And sitting on the edge was Optimus Prime himself._

 _He knew that it was a not memory, considering he never had a chance to really be alone with Optimus, nor had he even been up here since the time he and Agent Fowler were kidnaped by the Decepticons. Walking up next to Optimus, Jack joined him in sitting on the edge and just watching the sunset. The silence lasted for about five minutes, enough time for the sun to disappear beyond the horizon and the stars to shine in their full glory._

" _Jack." Optimus intoned. "Let us speak."_

" _What about?" said teenager asked._

" _About the events that have transpired in the last few days." Optimus answered._

" _Optimus, please try to understand that I was researching about the Dark Energon, on ways to combat it and what the effects were." Jack explained. "The whole business with Unicron was before myself having acquired the Dark Energon."_

" _Please explain." Optimus requested._

 _Heaving a sigh, Jack answered. "Do you remember the time when we had first met, my subsequent return and the battle at the SpaceBridge when Megatron tried to revive Cybertrons dead and invade Earth?" Jack asked, to which Optimus nodded. "After the battle and when you told everyone to escape, I was shot by a blast by Megatron's cannon, which as you know was firing blasts of Dark Energon. When I recovered after, I did not think of it anymore believing that there were no side effects which I was correct." Jack explained._

" _But?" Optimus asked, believing there to be more to the story._

" _But when Megatron possessed me after the Cybonic Plague incident, it seemed that when I touched the Dark Energon as I was possessed by Megatron, it seemed to have opened up a pathway for Unicron's own essence to flow into me. Due to the fact that we humans are the by-product of Unicron becoming Earth, it seemed that he chose to stay dormant inside me." Here Jack gave a sigh. "After everything was said and done, I managed to slip a shard of it for myself to study, and because of my constant close proximity to the Dark Energon, Unicron was able to gain more strength and power to the point where he could possess my mind and body."_

" _Did you believe that what you did would not have consequences Jack?" Optimus asked._

" _I knew what would happen if you found out about the Dark Energon I had, that was why I hid it for study." Jack answered._

" _Do you regret your actions, knowing now what that has cost you?" Optimus asked._

 _Jack did not reply as he stared at the stars above them, thinking on his answer. On one hand he at that time wanted to know what about the Dark Energon made it so deadly to the Autobots and on ways that it could be negated. But at the same time, he thought back to what had happened in the past few days. While no one else knew about this, he was completely aware of everything that Unicron made him do, every blow to Optimus hurt. Maybe if he had taken more precautions then it could have been avoided, but even he knew that was a weak argument. Unicron would still have just possessed him, with or without the extra protections in place._

 _He though back to all those he hurt. The Autobots, the Avengers. Agent Fowler, and even Miko. That hurt the most. To see the last person that mattered to him the most, stare at him in fear and hurt. That was the one thing he feared the most, to lose his last anchor._

" _No." Jack said quietly. "I would not have done so, knowing what I know now. It was a mistake."_

 _Optimus simply nodded and smiled at him "I am proud of you Jack." He said._

 _Bewildered, Jack turned to stare up at Optimus in shock. Proud!? Why would he be proud? "Why? After everything that has happened, all the problems that I brought upon you." Jack asked._

" _It is not often one owns up to their mistakes. Rarer still are those who truly understand and learn that the actions of yesterday, cause problems tomorrow." Optimus said, imparting some wisdom to Jack. "Jack, there is something that I must give, and also tell you."_

" _What is it?" Jack asked._

" _When you wake up, you will find a device called the Key to Vector Sigma attached to your suit's chest, it will aid you when you reach Cybertron." Optimus answered._

" _Why would I be going to Cybertron, and why are you giving me such a device?" Jack asked, confused._

" _The reason for going to Cybertron will be revealed to you soon enough. As to why I am trusting you? The Key has chosen you to wield it." Optimus stated. "The Key to Vector Sigma is a device which allows access to Vector Sigma, an ancient repository of wisdom and knowledge and can only be wielded by a Prime or when the key finds someone worthy."_

" _Shouldn't someone else be holding onto such an important device?" Jack asked._

" _Perhaps, but even were I to give it someone else, the Key would not work for them as it will for you. Whatever you may think about yourself Jack, know that the Key chose you because it knows that you are worthy of wielding it." Optimus explained_

" _I won't let you down Optimus." Jack declared._

" _I know you won't Jack, and remember, the Key will guide you on your path." Optimus replied. "Now I suggest you wake up."_

 _Flashback_

"So all we have to do is find a way to Cybertron." Steve said.

"Yes, and unfortunately we have no means to do so." Ratchet answered.

"Dude, what about that?" Miko asked, pointing to the inactive GroundBridge.

"Miko, the GroundBridge barely got them to Earth's atmosphere." Raf reminded.

"Yeah, but Ratchet built it and Jack created his own. Surely they can find a way to turbo charge the thing." Miko asked.

Here Jack and Ratchet looked at each other and then at the GroundBridge and began thinking of how to do so. After a few minutes, Jack brought up an issue with the plan.

"Even if we somehow managed to supercharge the GroundBridge. It would take an immense amount of Energon and power that the Decepticons could easily find our base due to the amount of Energon readings that it would show." Jack explained.

"Well what do you propose?" Arcee asked.

"Well we know that the Decepticons only need an ample power source to power up their SpaceBridge. So why not let them have it." Jack answered.

"Why? So he can raise an army of undead Cybertronians?" Bulkhead growled out, still unhappy about the apparent dismissal of Jack's trustworthiness.

"No." Jack replied. "So that we can commandeer it and send me to Cybertron."

"The only problem is finding it." Ratchet said.

"Like a servo in scrapyard." Arcee quipped.

"Well, we know that the SpaceBridge takes a large amount of Energon to power up. So the most logical place to hide it would be near a large amount of Energon."

* * *

A week. That was how long it took them to find the SpaceBridge. After their discussion, Jack told Agent Fowler to place trackers on the power sources that could generate the same energy that the Decepticons tried to steal from earlier. Unfortunately the Decepticons had disabled any tracking beacons on the power source when they retrieved it. The good thing was that they knew the general area in which the SpaceBridge was being held.

Meanwhile back at base, Ratchet and Jack had tried different way to supercharge the GroundBridge without exposing their base. All of their tests were in failure, due to the fact that Cybertron was so far away and the power consumption was costing them. They already had to change the circuits four times due to the power levels blowing out the convertor.

But luck had found them on Saturday when of all people, Starscream called upon their aid requesting medical attention, and that he had vital information for them. When he, Ratchet and Bulkhead spoke to him, Starscream only told them what they already knew. When told this, Starscream was shocked, but still required medical attention. So in exchange for medical aid, he would tell them the location of the SpaceBridge, which Starscream gladly did.

It was decided that Arcee would escort him to wherever Vector Sigma laid, in case there were any Decepticons lurking around. So on Sunday night, The Autobots and Avengers sneaked into the mine that held the SpaceBridge and silently took down any Vehicons in the way. Once the SpaceBridge was clear of any hostiles, Jack GroundBridged onto the sight wearing a slightly modified version of his suit. On his back were two small tanks containing enough oxygen that would sustain him for a full three hours of constant use. They were connected by two tubes that started on the top of the tanks that led to the front of the helmet providing oxygen.

* * *

Walking through the SpaceBridge, Jack was astounded that he was standing on another planet. But that feeling quickly left him as he saw the state in which the planet was left in when both Autobots and Decepticons left. As he looked at half destroyed buildings and rumble, Jack could not help but picture Earth as being in a similar state should the Decepticons bear their full might on Earth's populace. It was any wonder that he did not do so already.

"I'm sorry Arcee. About Cybertron." Jack sympathised.

"This is not how I wanted you to see my home Jack." Arcee said quietly, closing her optics as she remembered the many battles that took place on her home world.

"I know." Jack said simply.

" _Can you hear us? Do you copy?"_ Ratchet's voice came over the comms.

"We hear you Ratchet." Arcee answered, placing her hand on her audio receptors.

" _Good. You two better get moving soon. For all we know Vector Sigma may be two miles or two hundred."_ Ratchet said.

"So which way?" Arcee asked looking at Jack.

Remembering Optimus' words that the Key would guide him to Vector Sigma, Jack placed his hand above his chest, where the key resided and waited. It did not take long for it to respond by shooting out a line that went on the right side of the fork that they had Bridged to.

"Do you see it?" Jack asked.

"See what Jack?" Arcee asked, looking around for something that Jack seemed to have seen.

"It seems that the Key is showing me how to get there, and it's that way." Jack said, pointing in the same direction as the line.

"Alright then, hop on." Arcee said as she transformed into her vehicle form and drove in the direction that Jack pointed to.

And so they drove, Jack relaying any change in directions when needed but otherwise keeping an eye out for any trouble. Eventually, after 30 minutes of nonstop driving, they came upon a building that was slightly damaged but otherwise still standing. The building was surrounded with a high wall with gun emplacements at certain points and a single entrance that was connected by a bridge.

"Seems the Key led us to Kaon." Arcee stated.

"The Decepticon capital? Why would it be here?" Jack asked.

"During the war Megatron lead a full on assault, hoping to use it as a major base for his operations. He clearly did not know what was hiding beneath his feet." Arcee explained.

Entering the large courtyard inside, they saw that a large statue of Megatron in a pose. Getting off of Arcee and hearing her transform, Jack saw the line that led them here just suddenly stop in a large open area. Standing exactly where the line ended, Jack placed his hand above the key once again, hoping for an answer. It did not take long for the key to glow before the ground began to shake as the ground in front of him started to rise and a large door was slowly being revealed.

The door then let out a loud rumbling as it began to part ways down the middle, allowing light to shine on the dark hallway. Just as he was about to enter, a shriek, like that of a banshee, pierced the sky. The sound of a thousand wingbeats closed in on them, the shriek continuing. And suddenly from the entrance that they came from, came a large black beetle, its wingbeats causing jack to hold himself against the wind that its wings caused.

Arcee, who went to engage the large beetle shouted at him. "Jack, get inside! I'll hold him off until you're done!"

" _Jack! What's going on!?"_ Ratchet's voice sounded over his comms.

"We're being attacked by a large black beetle!" Jack replied as he ran into the dark hallway, activating his Night Vision as he did so.

" _An Insecticon!"_ Ratchet exclaimed.

"What's an Insecticon?" Jack asked, running through the hallway.

" _A hive of insect like Cybertronians that lived deep beneath Cybertron. Found by the head scientist of the Decepticons, Shockwave, he manipulated them to be under Megatron's command."_ Ratchet informed.

* * *

Jack continued to travel down the long dark hallway for about 10 minutes until he came unto a large circular room. Due to the Night Vision being activated, Jack could see that there was only a single walkway that ended halfway through the room. The rest of it was just a drop straight down.

Walking along the path, Jack came to a stop when the room began to rumble and the sound of grinding could be heard. As the room began to shake, the sound of grinding continued as the room began to light up in a soft glow and symbols on the wall that he did not notice earlier light us as well. On closer inspection, Jack realised that it was the same symbols that he had seen when he had woken up.

The grinding and room shaking suddenly stopped. Looking around, Jack realised that in his daze, he did not notice an octagonal shaped pedestal that reached to just under his chest stand at the end of the walkway. The sides of the pedestal had four grooved lines that were at an angle of 45 degrees from each other and on the top of the pedestal, was a hole where the Key was to sit in. Walking over to the pedestal and placing his hand near his chest, the Key, almost as if sensing his intent hovered over to his hand until he held onto it and placed it in the hole. The effect was immediate as the whole pedestal lit up with the same glow as the walls and symbols, only this one had a sort of pulse running along the lines that started at the bottom and ended when it reached the Key.

"Download commencing. I think." Jack said.

It was Jack watched as the download was commencing that he began to hear a slight clicking sound. Jack slowly turned around, and with the glow of the room providing a bright enough light source, Jack could see at least a hundred scraplets all moving across the walls, and more of them entering by the minute from the hallway. Jack only hoped that they would not notice him or the Key.

Unfortunately he was proven wrong when one of them turned its giant head to look at him. Immediately the sound of whirling blades could be heard as the Scraplet began to fly at him, the others following soon after. In the fastest transformation yet, Jack changed his arms into his Rapid Fire Mode weapons and began blasting away at the swarm of Scraplets, who only seemed to notice him and not the key.

" _Jack! What's going on!?"_ Ratchet cried over the comms.

"Scraplets!" Jack shouted over the sound of his weapons fire.

As he continued to fire away at the Scraplets, which began to fall to his assault, he slowly began to hear the sound of wings moving through the hallway. Knowing that it was the Insecticon, Jack had to find a way to quickly deal with the Scraplets quickly. Luckily for him they had begun to retreat away from the room when they lost too many of their own, leaving him alone for the moment.

Transforming his arms back, Jack quickly dropped his hand to a few of his bombs and smirked as he was going to have fun seeing the look on that Insecticon's face. As the Insecticon got closer, Jack tensed as the sound of its wings got louder until from the darkness the Insecticon flew towards him. Knowing that he had to time it right, Jack waiting until the Insecticon got closer before throwing the bombs. Amazingly the bombs stuck to the head of the Insecticon, who had stopped.

"Tick tick boom." Jack stated. And with that the sticky bombs went off, blowing the Insecticon's head clean off and the body fall down to the depths below.

Once there were no more threats, Jack turned back to the pedestal just in time for the download to be complete. This being signified by the Key hovering slightly above the hole. Grabbing the Key, Jack placed it back near his chest for it to be reattached. Once done, Jack turned back to the entrance and was about to leave when he heard the sound of an engine roaring through the hallway. Jack did not know whether it was Arcee or another Decepticon left on Cybertron, but he was ready to fight back if necessary. Luckily he did not have to worry, for it was Arcee that was driving towards him. She stopped just in front of him.

"Is it done?" Arcee asked.

"Done." Jack answered as he got on top of Arcee.

Driving out of the hallway, they quickly made their way back to their starting point. Speeding down the long road that led SpaceBridge, Jack quickly radioed Ratchet.

"Ratchet, we're on our way back, is everything good on your end?" Jack asked, only to receive no reply.

Arcee skidded to a stop just in front of the SpaceBridge, Jack getting off of her. Looking at each other Jack and Arcee were wary to just enter should there be an ambush waiting for them. Suddenly Jack heard Steve over the comms.

" _Jack, there's an ambush waiting for you on the other side."_ Steve said.

"How many?" Jack asked.

" _An entire platoon of Vehicons and Megatron himself."_ Steve informed. _"Optimus is also with us. He tried going against Megatron, but he was beaten back."_

"Steve, tell everyone to shut their eyes, it's about to get bright in there." Jack ordered as he took out one of his flashbangs, and transformed his other hand into his blaster.

" _Understood."_ Steve acknowledged.

Arcee, who had heard the whole conversation, prepared to rush through the SpaceBridge as soon as Jack gave the word.

Lobbing the grenade forward, Jack waited for 20 seconds before moving in.

"Now!" Jack shouted, rushing through the SpaceBridge.

Exiting the SpaceBridge in a rush, the first thing that he saw was the Autobots and Avengers minus Optimus lay a beatdown on the disorganised and confused Vehicons. Arcee then ran past him and dropkicked a Megatron in the face. Rushing to Optimus, Jack took the key from his chest and held in his hand.

Optimus then noticed him and looked at him in confusion. Jack simply held the key up, high enough for Optimus to see it.

"Are you certain I am worthy?" He asked.

"More than you know." Jack answered as the key shot a beam straight at Optimus' chest, exposing the Matrix of Leadership.

As the beam continued to fire at Optimus, Jack noticed out of the corner of his eye one of the Vehicons rushing at him. Bringing his arm forward, Jack blasted the Vehicon off its feet and away from him. He continued to fire away at any Vehicon that was either trying to sneak up on the Autobots or trying to stop him.

"NOOO!" A scream of rage was heard.

Turning his head, Jack saw that Megatron was rushing at the both of them. When the Autobots tried to stop him, they were thrown back by Megatron. Just the beam of light stopped and Optimus' chest closed. Megatron, who had his sword out brought it down, only for Optimus to catch it with both his hands slapped onto each side of the blade.

"Megatron." Optimus' deep baritone voice said slamming his battle mask shut, causing Megatron's eyes to widen. "Be gone!"

And with that Optimus gave a powerful uppercut, sending Megatron flying across the cavern and in front of his troops. Getting up from his position, Optimus changed his weapons to his blasters and held them ready as the Autobots and Avengers gathered in front of the SpaceBridge.

"Ratchet! How did we get here?" Optimus asked.

"Long story my friend." Ratchet answered.

" _Fowler here, we're reading five Autobots signal on your location. Is Prime with you?"_ Fowler's voice came through.

"And Jack." Arcee said.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, GroundBridge now." Jack ordered.

"Very well sir." The A.I answered.

* * *

Everyone was back at base, celebrating the fact that they had brought back not only Optimus but also his memories. Watching Miko and Raf enjoy themselves while the Avengers talked with each other, Jack could not help but let out a small smile at the fact that they finally had their family back together. But just as quickly as his smile appeared, so too did it vanish, replaced with a small frown as he knew that Megatron would not let things stand as they were.

His forces beaten down, his plans foiled once again and with no proper SIC he most likely was watching his back very closely should his forces attempt a coup. While the possibility was small, it was still there. Sooner or later, Megatron was going to forgo the secrecy and just attack a city and bring the war to the forefront.

"Jack." A voice called out.

Turning his head, Jack saw that it was Optimus who spoke his name. "Optimus, is there something wrong?" he asked.

"No nothing is wrong. I want to thank you, for saving my life, for making the journey through Cybertron to retrieve my memories." Optimus explained.

"Anytime Optimus." Jack said giving a nod to him.

Jack was suddenly grabbed by Bulkhead, who held onto him tightly as he made his way in front of the GroundBridge and dropped him onto the ground. Everyone in the base was looking on, wondering what was going on. Optimus was about to step in and demand answers but stopped when Jack shouted.

"What the hell is your problem Bulkhead!?" Jack yelled.

Bulkhead simply glared at Jack. "You're the problem Jack!"

"This again! Really Bulkhead this is just getting old." Jack stated throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

"Bulkhead is correct Jack." Ratchet said. "Ever since you came aboard, you've brought nothing but even more trouble on us. First it was Miko being captured my M.E.C.H, then it was your mother's death by the same organization that you caused. And then it gets even better! Not soon after, we learn that you helped bring back Megatron from his near death state, then an invasion happens and finally there's the fact that you were possessed by UNICRON himself, by your own hand!" Ratchet ranted.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Jack thundered. "EVERYTHING I DO – EVERYTHING I have DONE, has been to help YOU fight in YOUR WAR. Maybe I kept some secrets, did things I shouldn't have, but who are you to lecture anyone? Ever since myself, Raf and Miko have arrived you have done nothing but spout belittling comments on my species and have looked down upon us like we should be stepped on. And on the rare occasion you've chosen to help, you've done so little, that you might as well have done nothing at all!"

"YOU DARE!" Ratchet bellowed.

"YES I DARE!" Jack shouted back. "You speak as if you have lost everything that matters to you. But you have lost NOTHING! Sure, Cybertron is a desolate wasteland now, but it can be restored. You say you lost countless friends to the Decepticons, but ask yourself this. How many friends did they lose to you, all because Megatron was disregarded as a madman. It was your war that dragged my mother down to the grave! But it doesn't matter anymore, I'm done helping you."

"WHAT!" Everyone shouted.

"Jack please, Ratchet didn't mean it!" Miko pleaded. "Please stay, we need you. I need you." She whispered the last part.

"Evidence to the contrary Miko. It's clear that neither the Autobots nor the Avengers trust me. But know that if you ever need me, I'll be there." Jack said quietly. "J.A.R.V.I.S activate Protocol 10." Jack ordered.

"Are you sure sir?" J.A.R.V.I.S asked.

"Yes." Jack answered.

Jack then hugged Miko for all she was worth and placed a kiss on top of head. "I love you Miko, never forget that." He whispered.

"Then stay." Miko whispered back, tears streaming down her face.

"What's Protocol 10 Jack?" Steve asked, interrupting them.

Jack simply gave Steve a hard look before an explosion rocked the entire base, and it came from his lab. "That is Protocol 10."

Suddenly the GroundBridge opened and Jack began to make his way towards it. Everyone just stared as Jack continued to move closer towards the green vortex, none of them doing anything to stop him. But just as Jack was about to leave, he took one last look behind him. Placing his hand above where the Key to Vector Sigma lay, Jack took it off of him and placed it gently onto the ground. He then looked at Optimus in the optics, who had sorrow and guilt within them.

Jack simple gave a small smile. "The Key chose wrong Optimus." He said before stepping through the GroundBridge.

* * *

 **Were you expecting something like that?**

 **My reasoning for having Jack leave the Autobots was simple. Jack's secrets had been found and everything had come to a head. Ratchet and Bulkhead was tired of Jack constatly getting them into situations and hurting his friends. The death of his mother and subsequent capture of Raf and Miko did not help matters, but the final nail in the coffin was when Jack became Unicron's herald.**

 **The symbols that Jack saw will play a role later on in the future, all i will say is that it involves Optimus and certain relics of the past.**

 **Leave a review to tell me what you think of this final chapter. It would really help with the next story, now that this is over, you guys can really come at me with your comments.**

 **Have an Awesome Day!**


	28. Sequel

**If you guys want to read what happens next, the sequel to this story is up and is called Transformers Prime: Warfighter Reborn.**


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